Twinings of Fate
by fruitpunch93
Summary: It's an anime kind of story I made up about a girl whose life is turned upside down right after her village is destroyed. How does she cope with her demise and get on with her life? Rated T for sexual scenes and violence.
1. A peaceful beginning

Note:

1. This is purely fictional with no reference to any real-life characters.

2. The ordering of Japanese names is its surname followed by its Christian name. So for instance, "Amamiya Haine", the protagonist of the story, is referred to as Haine by her parents (Amamiya Kyousuke and Amamiya Juuri) in this chapter.

Chapter 1

In a corner of Kyushu Island, Japan, is a village like any other whereby life is on the whole simple, ordinary and peaceful. Most of the village folks were fishermen, living out the daily routine of fishing and selling their livestocks in the city market a mile away from the village. Although not exactly the wealthiest nor the most educated among the people in Japan, people in the village were generally at ease and happy with their lifestyles. As the sun was about to set on an idyllic Tuesday, a pair of husband and wife were sitting near the river, leaning on each other's shoulders and reviewing their hard work for the day.

"We are in luck, Juuri; this afternoon's catch was an exceptionally abundant one… At least half of our stocks are left even after selling the usual amount at the market today! Dinner will sumptuous tonight…"

Raising her head slightly, Juuri replied, "Gosh you are right Kyousuke! Haine will love it when she gets home from school. Speaking of Haine, don't you realize she's been acting a little odd lately?" and the wife gave a sudden disapproving look. "She has been coming home a little later than usual these days, always surrounded by a group of boys and all…makes one really wonder what she is up to…"

But Kyousuke merely chuckled and said airily, "Honestly you worry yourself way too much, Haine is already 16 years old… She is definitely old enough to take care of herself and knowing her she is probably just going through puberty," pausing for a second, he carried on with an amused expression on his face, "a group of boys you say? My oh my… the last time I saw her out on the streets she was only with 2! She sure has inherited her mother's charming features; Delicate, fair skin and round and proportionate eyes which reflect the glorious moonlight…"

"Yea… come to think of it it's been slightly over 15 years since she was left on our doorstep by that woman on that night…" and while saying that, Juuri had a sudden solemn expression on her face. "Hey Kyousuke, isn't it finally time that we should tell Haine the truth, that we aren't actually her biological parents? I think she has a right to know, that her actual mother is in fact the one by the name of Kamiya Hazuki. Tonight seems to be a good chance to…" However, before she could finish her sentence, Kyousuke had already put up his hand to stop her and replied, "We have discussed this before Juuri… Unless Kamiya Hazuki comes to us and insists on letting Haine know the truth, there is no need to reveal her true parentage. In fact, I personally do not believe that Kamiya Hazuki will come find us anytime soon to claim Haine, seeing how desperate she was to get rid of her child and hand her over to us that night. Haine will be much happier not knowing that her true mother abandoned her and left her in this village."

"And we shall keep it that way," said Kyousuke loudly, just as Juuri was about to open her mouth to protest, "for as long as we need to…"

Recognizing the firmness in her husband's voice, Juuri kept silent and the pair stood up at the same time, proceeding to stroll briskly back from the river to their wooden hut in the far end of the village, all ready to prepare dinner and await their daughter's return.


	2. The last dinner

Chapter 2

"Sorry I have to go now! My mother's going to be mad if I hang out any later than this time… Don't forget to return me my pen tomorrow Keitaro! Yup! Same time, same place, at the city market next to the booth selling cotton candy… We shall all have a really great time at the annual festival tomorrow! See you then, bye everyone!"

"Bye Haine!" chorused the group of boys as a girl with pale skin waved cheerily at them and proceeded to sprint back home.

"I wonder if I'll late for dinner…" Haine thought to herself as she continued to run hurriedly in the direction of the village. "Well let's just hope Dad backs me up when Mom starts losing her temper at me again…"

At the thought of her mother, Haine couldn't help but ponder over how Juuri has been looking somewhat moody and slightly disturbed the past few days. Just yesterday night while the family was anxiously waiting for dinner to served, Juuri had sped out of the kitchen and shrieked at the top of her voice about how the table cloth had caught fire while she was carelessly frying her vegetables. Sure enough, thick and foggy black smoke started to emerge from the kitchen, forcing the three to fetch several buckets of water from the village well before the fire was completely extinguished. And not to forget that this morning, Juuri who had prepared breakfast for Haine before school had started had not quite realized that she added thrice the amount of salt needed to season the dumplings, causing Haine to choke and gush down large volumes of water at once. "Ok …maybe I am not so fond of dinner now after all," and Haine gave a slight shudder while continuing to dash towards her house, finally arriving at the outer boundaries of the village.

Along the way, several other villagers waved at her merrily, calling, "Hello Haine!", "You look as cute as ever!", "A starry night isn't it?"… This seemed to lift Haine's spirits up immensely as she passed by several of her friendly neighbours. It was a strange feeling, but despite the fact that most of the villagers were extremely busy day in and day out, there was still that indescribable closeness which exists among the villagers which thus formed the care and concern they have for one another even with minimum interaction among them. When Haine's kitchen had caught fire that day, several villagers who had noticed smoke coming out of the front door had went forth without hesitation and helped to fetch buckets of water. Some were even willing to help out with the repairs of the kitchen and saving the Amamiya family from a whole lot of work. In the past 16 years of Haine's life, even as she attended the city school and came into contact with snobbish rich kids who conspicuously gave off the vibe of someone who is used to the life of technology, she had never once lamented about living in this mundane rural village thanks to the warmth the village offered her. Gradually she has in fact come to regard not only Kyousuke and Juuri as her family, but also all the villagers as her closest kin.

"No smoke coming out from the windows and the door today, guess nothing's caught fire then, at least not yet…" thought Haine, finally arriving right outside her hut and panting heavily but feeling slightly relieved.

"I'm back!"

"Welcome back Haine! Dinner's ready, we caught some extra fish today so tuck in!"

"Thanks Dad!"

As she sat down at the table and held onto her chopsticks, she looked over to her mother, expecting a lecture to come straight at her about returning home late at night again. However, to Haine's slight surprise, Juuri did not tick her off but instead walked towards her and said gently, "Dear, your dad and I had a talk just now and I was just thinking that I may have been a little bit too harsh on you these days as I often disregard that you are a teenager in need of more freedom and space. Perhaps tomorrow you would like to spend more time with your friends at the festival in the city? It would be a great chance for you to unwind from all your school work…"

Momentarily baffled at her mother's sudden change in behavior, Haine remained silent and continued to stare at Juuri. At least 10 seconds of silence passed by…

"You don't want to?"

"No," replied Haine at last, "not that, it's just that that was precisely what I was intending to do tomorrow… Thanks Mum!"

Juuri's face split into a wide smile and she proceeded to fetch a bowl of soup from the kitchen. Still disbelieving what she had just heard from her normally strict and domineering mother, Haine burst out before she could stop herself, "Mum, there isn't anything you are keeping from me is there?"

Without warning, the bowl of onion soup slipped from Juuri's fingers and crashed onto the floor.

"Mum! Are you ok?"

Drained of colour and looking as though she had just seen a ghost, Juuri slowly lifted her head up and faced her daughter, her expression extremely rigid. "What makes you say so?"

"Well, these days you haven't really been yourself… Firstly the kitchen caught fire and just this morning you added way too much salt to my dumplings and now," Haine stared at the shattered bowl of soup on the floor, "you are losing your concentration really easily. It's just that even though I may not be of much help I really hope you can tell me your problems because you are my mother and we are a family after all…" And at this, Juuri immediately went forward and hugged Haine tightly in her arms, half smiling and half crying, apparently touched by what she had just said.

"Mum?"

"Alright now you two… I seriously hate to interrupt this moment but we still haven't touched our dinner yet! Better eat it while it's still warm! Now Haine, fetch another bowl of soup from the kitchen while your mother and I clean this mess up."

As Haine finally pulled away from Juuri and went into the kitchen, Kyousuke, making sure that Haine was out of earshot, whispered in Juuri's left ear, "Told you there was nothing to worry about…" And Juuri, while giving a faint smile, replied, "Yea, you are absolutely right Kyousuke, it's just me being silly after all. Come on let's eat!"

And dinner tasted great that night.


	3. The festival

Chapter 3

"Look everyone!" Lifting his finger and pointing directly at the sky, Keitaro exclaimed excitedly as the group of friends turned towards his direction and gazed upwards. "The fireworks are changing colours!"

And indeed, the already starry sky was illuminated even further by the display of fireworks, flashing red, blue, green and yellow at random sequences before hundreds of pairs of eyes down below.

It was the yearly festival held at the city. Colourful kimonos in all shapes, patterns and sizes were on display and not to mention a variety of cosmetics were sold at no less than 5 booths, all of which were gathered by crowds of vain women, undoubtedly seeking to bargain for lower prices.

"Want some cotton candy? I've got some ohagi too if you like," said Haine to one of her friends, as she held out a tray full of snacks and offered them to the group.

"Thanks, it sure is considerate of them to hold the festival on a Saturday, since there's no school tomorrow!"

"Yea! Can you imagine having to go school tomorrow morning when everyone's totally exhausted from attending the festival tonight?"

"There is still homework though," and Keitaro frowned slightly, "but at least there's an extra weekend to do it. Oh yea I almost forgot all about it! Here's your pen Haine…Thanks for that day, really helped me out when I forgot mine…"

"No problem," and as Haine received the pen from Keitaro, one of her friends pulled her over to the other side where there's a game booth with rows of soft and cuddly stuff animals displayed on its front. 5 rubber balls were placed next to a sign saying, "Think your aiming is awesome? Test your dexterity with this game and stand a chance to win attractive prizes! Each player gets 5 attempts to knock off the toy(s) you want the most! If it falls, it's yours…"

"Going to give it a shot?" asked Haine at her friend.

"Of course not! I was thinking you should give it a go," and at this, Haine gave a slightly appalled look. "You are pretty good at these things aren't you? Last Sunday when we were playing on the field, the bird was no less than a hundred meters away and you managed to hit it spot on with a single pebble!"

"Yea but only because I was really mad at that bird for laying dung on my school bag! …Oh alright! I will try my best in it…" said Haine, recognizing the unwavering look on her friend's face which she often showed to others in an attempt to persuade them to join her chess club, that which she has admirably never failed to do so before.

While holding onto the ball, Haine tried to imagine the squishy looking baby Penguin toy on the second row as the ugly looking bird the other day…

WHAM! It was a bullseye and the stuffed penguin fell from the row, as it did for the other four stuffed animals which each collided with one of the 4 remaining balls- Monkey, Bear, Lion and Snake, each of which was given by Haine to her other friends, except the stuffed penguin, which she kept for herself.

"I knew it! I just knew you could do it!" laughed her friend, whom was clapping continuously.

Even Haine, utterly amazed at her own accuracy, thought, "Wow I guess I really do have an affinity for these things..."

For the rest of the night, the group of friends jumped from one booth to the other, sampling many Japanese delicacies and trying on many different kimonos. At last, all of them were exhausted at midnight.

"I can't eat anymore…"

"Yea my stomach is totally bloated!"

"Just how on earth do you eat so much Haine?"

Haine, who was chewing onto a piece of ohagi, replied, "Well I love really sweet things ever since I was young and it's a festival after all so we really shouldn't miss the chance to enjoy ourselves!"

"I give up… this girl's amazing…" said Keitaro, to which the rest of the group agreed in unison.

"Hey there aren't many people left now…guess they must be like us feeling drained out…I am heading home now, what about you guys?" asked Keitaro, while looking over at Haine and 4 other friends.

"Yea I am going to start heading home now, bye everyone! It was really fun with you guys tonight! See you on Monday in school…" and with a last glance at her friends, Haine turned around and started walking joyfully towards the village.

"It sure was fun tonight wasn't it?" asked Haine as she looked down at the stuffed penguin and patted its head. "I am sure next year will be even better…"

And as she walked towards the village, finally reaching the outer boundaries, the penguin toy had slipped from her fingers and dropped onto the bloody and muddy grounds… She had dropped it, not out of carelessness, but out of profound shock and horror…Something had happened, which caused her smile to disappear in an instant…which had caused her happiness gained from the festival to fade away completely into the darkness, turning into utter despair…which had caused the gears of fate to turn and unfold the tragic destiny which awaits this girl…Her life would never be the same again…


	4. Her nightmare

Chapter 4

"How on earth could this have happened…" Haine thought, eyes transfixed at the gruesome scene before her.

The friendly villagers who had greeted her as she returned home from school not so long ago were all laying before her, disemboweled and in pieces, seemingly bound by tree branches and roots. Haine forced herself to open her eyes and looked around. The Kobayashi family, Hyuuga family and Takashi family who had aided the Amamiya family in putting out the kitchen fire were all dead, as like the rest of the villagers were, lifeless and cruelly disassembled and dissected.

The abrupt appearance of this gory scene had perhaps numbed her senses and prevented the full impact of it from being registered in her head because as Haine walked through the village, passing by one body after another, not a single tear spilled out of her eyes. At that point in time, all she could think about was that this had to be a bad dream…

But what about her parents then? Were Kyousuke and Juuri still alive? Whoever killed the villagers may have the slightest chance of not having actually gone to the furthest end of the village where her house was…Fear gripped Haine like never before, her heart was hammering against her chest and her hands and legs became icy cold. With much difficulty, she took a deep breath and raced towards the end of the village, determined to face the horrible truth of whether Kyousuke and Juuri were still alive.

"It would take a person with uncommon skill to massacre a whole village within a day and escape alive…" thought Haine. "Was the murderer really a human being…No..it can't be… Even the killing methods implemented were way too inhumane. Even if it were a human being, it must have been an unfathomable being in human skin…"

Amidst her logical deductions and frustration of her inability to comprehend, she had entered her own house even before she had realized it herself, passing through the front door and looking at every single corner of the house in hope of searching for her parents. Yet at the same time, a huge part of her would rather prefer not to be able to find them instead as that would confirm that they were present at home when the massacre of the village had occurred…which also meant that by now, they would most likely be no longer among the living…

At last, she found them…

There they are, lying on the kitchen floor next to a pot of plant, covered in branches and roots just like how the rest of the villagers had been. Both of them were covered in their own blood, with slashes all over their body and limbs torn off from their body cavity. Haine crumbled onto the floor…

"Why? Why did this have to happen?" she wondered, and as revelation hit her, tears were spilling from her eyes and splashing down on her lap. Her eyes burned and hurt, but not as much as her heart did…

"Hh..aai…nee…Hai..ne…."

She heard a faint voice calling her name, immediately lifted her head up and saw her father's eyes open with immense difficulty, his only intact hand reaching towards her desperately…

"Dad! What happened here?" as Haine tried her best to keep her voice calm, she forcefully wiped her eyes dry and held onto her father's hand as tightly as she could.

"Two men raided our houses..raided the whole village…apparently our village was a sacrifice by the government to test out their latest weapons…I guess rural folks are really worth less than nothing compared to the city folks…They won't ever sacrifice the city people as test subjects of course… That man…he wasn't human…"And as Kyousuke struggled to catch his voice, he went into violent fits of bloody coughs.

"I'll take you to the city hospital Dad! So please…please don't die…you are the only family I have…" and as she spoke, her tears were renewed and once again splashing more uncontrollably than ever before as she struggled to find her own voice now.

"Lis..Listen to me Haine…There is something we have been keeping from you all these while so please listen very carefully…Your mother and I…We are not your biological parents…"

Haine, not quite noticing that she herself is now covered in Kyousuke's blood, continued to stare at him, apparently at a complete loss for words…

"Over 15 years ago a woman by the name of Kamiya Hazuki left you on our doorstep…she is your true mother and is most probably still out there somewhere…find her and acknowledge her…there is no parent who doesn't love a child after all.." then he smiled slightly, before saying, "we were…livin..g..ex..am..ple..s……." and then his voice died off.

"No Dad! Dad! Please wake up! I'll find her..the person called Kamiya Hazuki…I will definitely find her..I will do whatever you say so please…don't die..you and Mum are the only family I have!"

Haine kept crying and crying for what seemed like hours, not noticing her surroundings and not realizing that two extremely dangerous men are right behind her at this very instant…

"What is this? You actually left someone here alive? How very inadequate of you, Kisuke. As your brother I am thoroughly ashamed…"

A man who looks roughly about 27 years old, with greasy black hair, a tall, straight nose and angular eyes spoke to another guy standing beside him. The other guy looked just slightly over 20 years old and was a whole head taller than his brother.

"My apologies Sousuke…I didn't expect to find another one alive in this filthy hut. Must have been hiding in the cupboard and missed her…I will finish her off now…" and immediately after saying that, the bigger build of the two took a large axe and raised it above Haine's head…

"Stop Kisuke…" Sousuke grabbed hold of his younger brother's hand. "I am afraid that would be too wasteful…"

"What do you mean?" asked Kisuke, genuinely confused. He looked down at Haine, who stared from Kisuke to Sousuke and Sousuke to Kisuke, wondering who will be the one to deal the final blow to her.

"Look at her," and as Sousuke said so, he grabbed hold of Haine's face and pulled it closer to his… "Quite a pretty little thing don't you think? Would be a little wasteful if we don't have fun with her for a while…"

"I don't think you should do that Sousuke…we kill people because they are orders from the government…Any methods of killing we implement are just our preferences but at least nto against orders…Doing anything else may lead to trouble for us… We should just…" But before he could finish his sentence, Kisuke looked down at his chest area where his heart is located, apparently shocked; a branch which extended from the pot of plant wrapped around Kyousuke and Juuri was sticking out through his chest, impaling his heart and casting a death sentence upon him.

"He can manipulate plants?" Haine thought to herself, extremely bewildered by the scene in front of her. "and he killed his own comrade just like that, even though they were brothers…"

As Kisuke collapsed onto the ground in a pool of his own blood, the words of what Kyousuke had said before he died were ringing in Haine's head, "apparently our village was a sacrifice by the government to test out their latest weapons…"

"You are the weapon…" Haine said to Sousuke very quietly. Sousuke shifted his gaze from Kisuke to Haine, looking at her…his face unreadable… "You are the government's new weapon…a fighting device…You just manipulated the plant and killed your brother with it…In fact…that's how you have killed everyone in the village so easily…By making use of the trees around and binding them with the branches and roots while your brother uses his axe to kill all the villagers…"

"Seems like I underestimated you young lady…You are actually pretty intelligent…on top of having a nice face…" and as Sousuke said that, he licked his lips. "Sorry for the late introduction, I am Hiou Sousuke while this guy here…" Sousuke gave Kisuke's dead body a slight kick, "he is my brother Hiou Kisuke but as you can see he is already dead so there is actually no practical need to introduce him… Well serves him right for talking shit all the time, pisses me off…I would rather kill him off and get all the good killing jobs myself…" An insane grin spread across Sousuke's face.

"You're mad…You are totally…SICK…in the head…You would kill your own brother so casually and kill everyone in the village like it's some sort of sport…You are really inhuman!" Haine continued to stare at Sousuke, determined not to betray any sign of fear or weakness.

"Perhaps…I have stopped being a human a long time ago…literally I mean, not just my actions but ever since 5 years ago I have stopped aging you see…It all happened on a stormy night when that son of a bitch who was riding on a motorcycle refused to brake and crashed right into me and it was then that I felt it…the true meaning of death. I was somewhere in limbo and told myself I can't die yet…I have to kill that filthy maggot who knocked me down…and guess what I came back to life…I was still covered in blood on the road but my wounds were miraculously gone. The journey back from death has granted me new power as well…as you can see…" and as he said so, Sousuke pointed at a branch of the pot of plant, made a twirling action with his finger and wrapped the branch around Kisuke's head and forcefully detached it away from the body.

"I can control plants…Of course there may be others out there who possess other kinds of abilities…But not all can do it though…According to the highly classified information of the government, 3 conditions are required to gain this kind of power. First, is of course a death experience. Second, the immensely strong will to live. Third and the most important of all which explains why less than 1 percent of the world's population can ever stand a chance to gain these abilities, is that somewhere along your gene pool there must be the gene present.."

Without warning, Sousuke abruptly grabbed Haine by the neck and pushed her against the wall. "I am sure you know why I can tell you all these without restraint…it's because after I have fun with your body, I am going to kill you and spill your insides…" And after saying that, he grabbed Haine's shirt and ripped a portion of it off, in the process leaving behind a violent scratch on her shoulder. Then, he bent over and started licking her neck…

"No please stop it! Stop it you pervert!" And as Haine struggled helplessly, a sudden instinctive impulse ran through her mind… Plunging her hands into her pocket and pulling out the pen which Keitaro had returned her earlier on during the festival, she ejected the pen tip and with a swift but rough movement, she had slashed Sousuke across his face, leaving one side of his face covered in blood and bleeding profusely.

"You stupid bitch!" he shouted and as he did, he threw her roughly to the floor, fracturing her left arm. Haine gasped in pain and held tightly onto her left arm.

Placing a hand over his bleeding side of his face and licking his blood covered hand, he stood back up to his full height and stamped brutally onto Haine's left arm. Haine screamed in pain as Sousuke proceeded to grab her by the hair and throwing her aside right beside the pot of plant…

"I originally wanted to treat you gently, let you feel the pleasure of violation before sweetly ending off your life in an artistic manner…but not anymore…you are one of the few people to have dared to hurt me so bad ever since I gained this power…you shall regret it even in hell..."

And as Haine opened her eyes slightly to register what's going on, feeling extremely nauseous and dizzy, Sousuke made a few movements with his fingers and all light was gone from Haine's eyes…The plant had impaled her heart, her lungs and her stomach simultaneously…


	5. Limbo land

Chapter 5

"Where is this place…" Haine slowly opened her eyes and looked around, still trying to figure out where she was.

That's right, she had died… In what seemed like not so long ago the man known as Sousuke had stabbed her body with the plants he had controlled. So that must mean that she must now be on her way the other world now… And a sudden feeling of eagerness suddenly filled her… she wanted to see her parents again… At least who she thought had been her parents for the last 16 years of her life. Just a moment ago Kyousuke had admitted to her that they, Kyousuke and Juuri, were in fact her adoptive parents and that the woman Kamiya Hazuki was supposedly her biological mother who had left her in the village...

"The village…" she thought, and a sudden overwhelming feeling of sadness came over all. Everyone is dead… And amidst her intense sorrow and despair, faces of all the villagers had flashed through her head in an instant, inevitably recalling their warm smiles and times spent together…

"Do you want to continue to live?" a voice had suddenly called out to her.

Haine looked around anxiously, hoping to locate the source of that voice. However, there seemed to be nothing but white light dazzling all around her…

"Do you wish to continue to live in that world?" the voice called out to her again.

"Who are you?" Haine asked in desperation, "Where is this place? And what do you want from me?"

"You have died, human…" continued the voice, "But I will give you the chance to live, bestowing upon you great gifts… for you have managed to enter the gate to the nether world, yet possess the key to exit it and go back to rejoin the living… Now I ask you, do you or do you not wish to return to the living world? The choice is yours…"

Wrapped around in confusion and bewilderment, Haine had thought for an instant that passing on wouldn't have been so bad after all…At the very least she could reunite with Kyousuke and Juuri again. However, a sudden flashback to Kyousuke dying moments occurred in her head…

She had promised, with great certainty in her voice that she would find Kamiya Hazuki and seek the truth of her parentage from her. And so, the path ahead is clear…

And with great reluctance, she told the voice, "I will choose to go back to the living world," and she paused for a while, and then continued, "For I have too many commitments at the moment to forsake and pass on with, so please…return me…"

Almost in an instant, the white around her had faded away rapidly and replaced by darkness… Haine felt the sensation of falling through a never ending deep spiraling tunnel… She was going to go back to the living world…


	6. Zachary Taylor and Simon Morgan

Chapter 6

A tall man looking roughly about 23 years old or so stood outside a café in Sydney, Australia. He had light-olive skin tone, dark brown eyes and hair, a tall straight nose and a thin pair of lips. He didn't seem to look like a pure Caucasian but to describe him as an Asian would not be that accurate either, he was just a mixture of both races, whose charming features reflected the best of both worlds. He was Zachary Taylor.

"Been a while since I am here at Sydney… Sad it's for a mission and not for leisure though…"And as Zachary thought so, he walked through the café entrance.

The aroma of coffee filled the air, added with the sweet scent of cakes and pastries. And as he took a sit by the window, one of the many waitresses dressed in a French maid costume consisting of a dress, a petticoat, a pinafore and stockings asked him politely, "May I take your order sir?"

"A cup of cappuccino please, thanks," he said, and stared at his watch. It was 2 in the afternoon, in presumably 20 minutes time his target will arrive through the front door of the café, at least that's what Rufus had told him, and his information at hand is hardly ever wrong being as omniscient as the man he has always been.

"Here's your cappuccino," the waitress from before returned and settled the cup onto the table.

"Thanks," he said and as he stared back at his watch, a scream behind rang out, causing all heads in the café to turn over and see what had caused the commotion.

"You pervert! Let go of me!"

"Come on let's play… I can give you lots of tips if you like girlie…"

At the far left corner of the café, a waitress was struggling with another middle aged bearded man, whom was grabbing the girl's arm with his right and fondling with her thigh with his left. Then, one of the guys at the counter came up to him and said in a composed but serious tone, "Sir, I am afraid I can't have you harassing the young waitresses in our café like this, it may disturb our business and affect the other customers…"

"Shut up you asshole!" and as he said so, he lifted the shop manager up by the collar and threw him against the chairs, causing him to yell out in pain and the girl to scream.

"Now boys," and as the bearded man said so, two other burly looking and big guys stood up, "let's teach this guy a lesson..."

And as the three extremely mean looking men walked towards the manager, who was bleeding from his forehead, a knife flew out of nowhere in the direction of the trio and stabbed one of their hands hard.

"Argh!" the man was grabbing hold of his impaled right palm and cried out in pain while kneeling onto the floor. Everyone shifted his gaze from the trio to the other side of the café, and in the direction of Zachary Taylor's table.

There, the waitress who had served Zachary the cappuccino from before was holding onto another knife, ready to strike again, her eyes focused on the other two.

"Ge..Get her!" the guy kneeling onto the floor yelled out to his two other buddies.

And as the pair ran towards her, she stepped forward and elbowed one of the two in the eye, raised her right knee and stuck him hard in the neck and finished off with a swift left kick, knocking the man unconscious.

"You bitch!" and as the only guy left among the three attempted to tackle her, she dodged and threw the knife which she had held onto directly into his left ankle. Then, placing her hand in her pocket and pulling her hand out, with three more knifes appearing in her hand, she threw them in the direction of the man struck in his left ankle, each of them landing less than an inch away from his head, leaving him in shock and temporarily immobilized. She walked towards him and said in a cold and monotonous voice, "Listen you all… If you dare to ever hurt my friends again, I won't ever forgive you…"

And as she continued to stare at the three dangerously, a hand was placed on her shoulder. It was the shop manager, who had apparently recovered from his earlier attack.

"That's enough Haine," he said, and giving a last disgusted look at the three, Haine turned around and was prepared to walk away when another man suddenly walked into the café.

Zachary looked up immediately, taking great yet inconspicuous notice of the man's face, thought silently, "he's come eh…just as Rufus had said…"

"I see my subordinates have given you a whole load of trouble sir," the man who had just entered the café said and he continued, " My deepest apologies for their acts and I will guarantee that on top of compensating you with a handsome sum of money I will pay for all your losses, not a cent less."

"No, not at all sir…" replied the shop manager, apparently stunned at this abrupt change of atmosphere.

And just as sudden as his appearance was, he changed his initial well-mannered tone of voice to a much fiercer, much forceful one as he turned on the three who were crumbled in a heap on the floor, "GET UP! GET UP I SAY!" And despite their injuries, the only two who were conscious stood up almost instantly, each wearing an expression of utmost fright…

"We…we are sorry! We just wanted to have a bit of fun, we promise not to do something like this ever again so please don't punish us Mr Morgan!" one of them pleadingly said.

"Your punishment shall be determined when you get back, and so before that walk quickly and get out of my sight!" the man replied.

With one hand each supporting the still unconscious man, the three scrambled out of sight. When they were finally gone, the one known as Morgan walked towards Haine.

"I am real sorry for what they have done to your friend and manager here, as well as their crude behaviour towards you from earlier on. May I know what's your name young lady?" he asked, changing his tone to the more well-mannered one from earlier on.

Haine looked up at the man's face; he had extremely pale skin with a sharp pointy nose and cold grey eyes…

"My name is Haine, Haine Amamiya. I am sorry too, for hurting your people," and as Haine said so, she couldn't help but notice that despite this man's smile on his face and friendly tone in his voice, his eyes constantly gave the cold glare which suggested that he could kill you just as easily as a walk in the park…

"I am Simon Morgan, and I am thoroughly impressed that a charming young lady such as yourself will be able to defend yourself so well. Judging from your name you are Japanese aren't you, Ms Amamiya? You have come a long way to Australia…" he answered.

"Yea, I sure have…" Haine replied.

"Now then, judging from the state of your café today I guess I won't be having a cup of coffee here today," Simon said, and stared over at the collapsed chairs and tables and several broken glass bottles. "I shall again some other time then…" And as he said so, he continued to walk, passing over Haine, passing over Zachary, and out of the front door. Then, the whole café suddenly erupted in cheers and several of the other waitresses ran over to Haine.

"You were awesome Haine!"

"Yea and I can't believe you were hiding knifes in your pocket!"

And as one of them said so, she suddenly plunged her hands into Haine's pocket but no knifes could be found. "That's strange, I was sure I another one popping out of there…" the waitress said but before she could continue, the manager announced, "Ok due to necessary repair work today everyone shall have a half day now! All customers please leave now for repairs to proceed and as compensation for today's disturbance everything you have ordered will hence be on the house!"

"Now then Haine," and the manager walked towards her while carrying a large box, "Here's a cake I made for you and the kids at the church." As he handed over to Haine the large box of cake, Haine thanked him and was about to walk out of the front door when the manager added, "Say my regards to Sister Elizabeth for me!"

"I will and thanks for the cake! I am sure those children will be real glad for desert tonight... After all they loved the last one you made too Mr Albus!" and Haine left the cafe, setting off towards her church home.

"It has been a strange day today, and a while since I had to use my powers..." as Haine thought so, a scene when she was fighting with the three just now flashed in her mind; when she had placed her hand into her pocket, there were in fact no knifes present, but she had needed them for defense, and hence managed to conjure up a few at a go… She could pull out weapons from another dimension.

Ever since the fateful day she had left her fish village in Kyushu about 5 years ago, taking all the family's savings she had from her hut she changed from her blood soaked clothes to a set of clean ones and with a last glance over at the village, she left the village boundaries and entered the city, planning to travel to a faraway place in search of the woman, Kamiya Hazuki. And while passing through the city, she could not help but recall the festival which had occurred on the same night as the massacre did. She had spent much time with her friends, playing games and eating great snacks, and now she will most probably never see them again… After buying a ticket from the booth, she boarded the train, preparing to set off for Tokyo and if she fails in finding Hazuki there, she will set off for the other cities of Japan, before going into other countries. Along the way while exploring the rest of Japan, she had met into many unfortunate incidences.

For once, when she first came to Tokyo, she got almost raped by a group of men and managed to escape only when someone nearby who had happen to hear the screams she made called the police from the other side of the road over and arrested those men. As she travelled from Tokyo to Kyoto, Kyoto to Hokkaido, experiencing different seasons and meeting into different people, but none whom were Kamiya Hazuki, she got almost robbed many times and had to defend herself, often ending up in bruises and cuts before narrowly escaping. On one of these occasions however, something extraordinary had happened on a rainy afternoon…

"Hand over your bag girl if you don't want to be hurt and screwed real bad!" And as the man who was much bigger, much wider than her lashed and lunged forward, Haine had suddenly wished she had a weapon of some sort…something she could hurt him with…something she could kill him with… Then without warning, two purely white knifes had appeared in her right hand. Instinctively, she threw the two knifes straight at the man's neck. Caught off guard, the man failed to evade them in time and coughed up blood as his neck was struck with the flying knifes. He collapsed onto the ground, twitching about and unable to stand. Then, this time conjuring up a long dagger in her hand, she stabbed the man many times in his abdomen, before finally he was limp and still… Extremely terrified and shocked by what she has done, she vomited violently onto the road after examining the man she had just gutted up, feeling extremely sick. And then with much effort did she stand up and continued to walk towards a nearby motel, while leaving the crime scene behind with which the rain was in the mean time washing away its evidence.

Facing with many similar ordeals on the rest of her journey, she had learned to fight on a decent level in an attempt to defend herself better and got much more used to her abilities along the road. For instance, she could pull out more than one type of weapon at a go in varied quantities from another dimension when necessary.

And so here she is now, in Australia, after failing to locate Hazuki in Japan. Just 6 months ago she had arrived, out of money and food and on the verge of collapsing. A Cacausian woman in pastor clothing with a kind face and blond hair had then come forth with a bottle of water and piece of dried oat bread in her hands and rescued her from starving to death. She was Sister Elizabeth.

Ever since then, she had lived in the church along with 5 other children and Sister Elizabeth, helping with cooking and cleaning from time to time and taking good care of the young children, who were no more than 8 years old. Gradually, she had bonded with these children and Sister Elizabeth, regarding them as her new family and regaining the warmth, comfort and peace she had so long yearned for ever since the tragic night when she had lost her family 5 years ago. And to this date, she still had the appearance of a 16 year old girl and seemed to not have aged a single day…


	7. Workings behind the scene

Chapter 7

"Yea… I have located Simon Morgan and seen him once like how you predicted... He was planning to meet his subordinates there at the café, most likely discussing on their next plan of action on how to sell off their next batch of weapons to some terrorist organization. No…I did not manage to eavesdrop them at the café due to some unforeseen circumstances which occurred… and speaking of that," Zachary stopped suddenly, as Haine flashed in his mind, "I met an interesting girl today…For all I know she could even be the same as you and I, Rufus… Yea I know I shall keep an eye on her as well, I personally don't think she seems to be any dangerous character though but just in case…I will contact you if anything crops up. Until then, see ya…" and as Zachary hung up, he thought of the fight scene just now. As chaotic as the situation was, he was sure his eyes had not deceived him; the girl known as Haine had placed her hand into an empty pocket and made knifes appear out of thin air… Others may not have been able to see but he, who was right beside her and closest to her in distance at that time was sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him and was sure of what he had saw…

"Shall get a good night's rest before doing anything tomorrow," he thought, and stared at his silver watch which showed 7pm as he proceeded to walk towards the hotel, expecting his room serviced food to be ready and served warm…

In the meantime, in some other part of Sydney, Simon Morgan was sitting on a wooden chair with his legs crossed and staring at the three men bound in ropes, each to a wooden cross. His expression was one of utmost fury and repulse.

"Care to explain how you three could have lost to a single girl? I was thinking that by offering much more money to hire you guys who were supposedly to be strong and invincible or so you once claimed to be," as he said so, his eyes glared over each of them, who were looking extremely fearful, "that will be sufficient security to guard my weapons well. But I guess you three are merely for show eh…"

"It was an accident and that we lost to that Asian bitch! We will prove it to you…we will…we will…" and as he struggled to figure out what are the words he should use next, the other answered, "We will kill attack her house and kill that bitch!"

"Very well…" Simon replied as he walked into the darkness, disappearing out of sight…

After spending 3 hours watering the plants, sweeping and mopping the floor, wiping the furniture and cleaning the windows, Haine was preparing dinner with Sister Elizabeth, leaving the other 5 children to play in the backyard. In the kitchen, Sister Elizabeth was laughing.

"And that pervert just fell onto the ground like that after I gave him a kick to his stomach!" said Haine proudly.

"My oh my you sure are lively…" and Sister Elizabeth smiled at her, saying, "it's been slightly over half a year since you came come to think of it…"

"Yea it has been," said Haine, and she went on, "These past 6 months Sister Elizabeth has been extremely kind to me and it has been very fun living with these kids," and at that, she glanced through the window and looked at the children who were now playing TAG.

"The children have been extremely happy that you came, Haine. They, who have lost their families to cruel acts of mankind just like you did have never before been seen so bubbly looking and full of desire to look forward to another tomorrow for the few years I have lived with them in this church before you came…And for that I am grateful for the smiles you have put back onto their faces…" Sister Elizabeth said gently.

"It would be nice, if I could stay here with you all forever and live out the rest of my life in peace. If only time could stop now, I would really want to spend the rest of my life here in this church but I can't Sister Elizabeth…" and Haine's eyes suddenly welled up with tears, "I have promised my late father that I would seek out a person and question her about my true parentage…and I respect my father's last wish…"

Sister Elizabeth pulled Haine in and hugged her very tightly, saying, "And I wish you the best of luck in finding that person…"

Leaning against Sister Elizabeth's chest, Haine looked up and saw that Sister Elizabeth too, had eyes filled with tears. "You are going to set off soon aren't you?" Sister Elizabeth asked.

"Yes…In about a week or so. I will never forget you all…The little money I have earned from my job at the café, I will leave it in your hands as a token of my gratitude towards the care you have shown me these past few months... Living in this church has left many precious memories in my life and I will treasure them forever…" Haine smiled, and after a few seconds of silence, with nothing but the sound of the sizzling and frying of vegetables in the background as well as the stirring of the soup in the pot, Haine said, "Now then! The veggies are almost done so I'll go call the children in!"

And at that, she went to the backyard while Sister Elizabeth laid out the table, getting ready for dinner.

"So this is where she lives eh…" Zachary was standing outside the gate of the church, staring through the window of the church where he spotted 5 little kids, a middle aged woman and the waitress from before, Haine, sitting at a table laid with dishes and a cake by the side tucking in to their dinner. "Better keep a closer eye on her…"


	8. Lost again

Chapter 8

"Do you really have to leave Haine?"

"Yea it's been nice having you around…"

All the waitresses gathered around Haine in the café during lunch break the next morning while the shop manager, Mr Albus was standing by the counter and reading the resignation letter which Haine had just had passed to him.

"I am sorry you guys," and Haine meant it, looking over at them, "But I informed Mr Albus 2 weeks beforehand that I was going to leave Sydney and go somewhere else in about 5 days from now…I will never forget you guys though even when I leave!"

And at that Mr Albus went forward and patted Haine on the head, and smiled, "I wish you all the best in your future." and as he said so, he abruptly changed his voice to a more strict and harsh one and said, "Lunch break's over now! Everyone get back to work!"

Everyone chuckled and got back to their duties. A few seconds later, a customer with brown hair came in. It was Zachary. Sitting at the same spot by the window, Haine went to him and asked, "May I take your order sir?"

"A cup of Latte please," Zachary replied, and just when Haine was about to turn and walk away, he added, "Would you like to accompany me while I explore Sydney?" Haine stared at him, slightly taken aback, then he continued, "It's been a while since I have been in Sydney, 7 years to be exact, was wondering if you could be my tour guide for the day…"

"He's trying to ask you for date…" another waitress who was carrying a tray of empty cups and plates passed by Haine and whispered into her ear.

Still at a loss of words, Haine continued to keep silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "I am sorry I've got work in the café so I'm afraid…" But before she had finished, Mr Albus had cut in, "So she will be free to go with you right after you have finished your latte sir," and while saying that, Mr Albus had served the cup of Latte onto Zachary's table, and told Haine, "Since you are leaving Sydney in a few days time and most likely not coming back again you won't want to spend your last few moments lingering around this café would you?" and Mr Albus gave Haine a wink, lowering his voice and saying, "He's a good looking chap. Don't think he means any harm… Girls your age should hang out with boys more often …" And with that, Mr Albus patted Haine on the shoulder and walked away, leaving Haine alone with Zachary.

"You can sit down if you like you know," and Zachary smiled while taking a sip from his Latte, saying, "Your boss gave you half a day off after all…"

And as Haine sat down, she had for the first time since yesterday looked directly at Zachary's face and observed his features, thinking, "Mr Albus is right…He really is pretty good looking…" and when Zachary suddenly started speaking again, her heart skipped a beat.

"So where do you suggest we go first? Any recommendations?"

"Well I was thinking about the street just down there within walking distance from the café, there's a sale ongoing at all the shopping malls down that stretch of road…" replied Haine.

"Ok then, and you can tell me more about yourself too along the way…" Zachary said, and after taking the last sip of his coffee from the cup, both of them stood up and headed towards the door, leaving most of the waitresses behind to burst into fits of giggles.

"So the last time you were at Sydney what were you doing then?" asked Haine.

"An assassination mission," Zachary replied casually while Haine stared at him with a half suspicious, half shocked expression.

"I was just kidding…relax…" and Zachary laughed, noticing the look on Haine's face.

"So guess it's my turn to ask questions now," Zachary said, and his voice as casual as before, "How long has it been since you last stopped ageing?"

"Sorry?" Haine said and the atmosphere was suddenly changed to a more serious one. She was sure her ears had been playing tricks on her, how could this guy possibly be aware of what she was?

"How long has it been since you last stopped ageing?" Zachary asked again.

"I…I really don't know what you are talking about, how could anyone ever stop ageing?" answered Haine, who was trying her best to keep her voice as calm as possible but inevitably betraying a hint of panic beneath it.

"There is no need to be so wary of me, I don't mean any harm," Zachary said, and added, "After all to be able to live through a death experience is something more than you can bargain for don't you think… It's truly a blessing for individuals like that…"

"More like a curse," replied Haine instinctively and before she knew it, she placed her hands over her mouth and gasped, suddenly realizing that she had accidentally admitted to his previous question.

Zachary smiled, placed a hand on her head, and said, "I believe there are reasons for everything which happens in this world… Coincidences are mere excuses for these occurrences when they are unable to be deciphered… So don't feel too bad and learn to accept yourself for who you are…"

And as he said so, Haine strangely felt more confident in speaking to him now and before she knew what she was doing, she continued to question Zachary, "Can you see the light too then? At night, when the sky is all dark, there is this spot on the sky which is constantly dazzling. Ever since I died or rather the night I should have died 5 years ago, when I went out of my house I noticed the light in the sky. I was kind of hoping that it was just an illusion but for subsequent nights even till this day I could still see it… The star which is bigger and brighter than the rest in the sky… Does it mean anything?"

"It's known as God's eye," replied Zachary, then he added, "Or at least that's what Rufus calls it."

"Rufus?" asked Haine.

"He's my boss, well sort of," Zachary said, "Rufus Robinson, he is the same kind too, as both of us… Oh and by the way, I am Zachary Talor. Just call me Zachary."

"Oh and I am Haine Amamiya. You can just call me Haine though," and Haine blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed.

For the rest of the day, the two of them went from one shopping centre to the other and asked each other many questions along the way.

"…so apparently my village had been a mere experiment for the government to test out the efficiency of their latest weapons…"

"Weapons?"

"Human weapons I mean," replied Haine, "People like you and I… That man Hiou Sousuke could control plants…"

"I see… Guess both of us are somewhat similar then…"

"What do you mean?"

"It was about 11 years ago before I stopped ageing… Back then my house was attacked by bandits and they killed my parents. My little sister who was only 3 years old at that time had happened to be the only one whom was tiny enough to hide in the bedroom wardrobe so she was safe… I was killed by them shortly after but I chose to come back to life though as I swore to protect my sister from any dangers…"

"Oh…" and Haine suddenly felt extremely sympathetic and slightly disgusted at herself, as all along she had at many points in time lamented about life and wallowed in self pity about her demise, but upon hearing Zachary's story, she suddenly realized that many people out there had similar unfortunate incidences happening to them and some even worse off than her…

Anxious to change the topic, Haine suddenly asked, "Hey what kind of person is your boss? How is Mr Robinson like?"

"A cunning, sly, manipulative and hopeless know-it-all…" Zachary replied at once. "He was the one who took my sister and me in when we were wandering about the streets of London, homeless and penniless. My sister and I are currently living in his mansion in London."

"I see… It's getting kind of late now…" Haine said, looking around at the starry night sky. Amidst the small little stars there was one which never failed to appear; the biggest one which dazzled more brightly than the others, God's eye.

"Yea, half past 8 to be exact… Come on I'll walk you home," Zachary said.

"The church is nearby so there's no need to…" but before Haine could continue, Zachary interrupted, "Your manager will kill me if I fail to return you to the café safely tomorrow," and he smiled.

"Well if you insist…" and they both started to walk towards the direction of the church. However, as they walked on the pathway, closing in more of the distance between them and the church by the second, Zachary suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked Haine, feeling puzzled. Just another step and the gates of the church would have been in sight. As Haine approached the gates, she suddenly realized in dismay what had happened.

Thick, black smoke was coming out in large volumes from the windows and doors of the church. It was in flames.


	9. Hope admist despair

Chapter 9

Haine felt sick, almost to the point of nauseous. "Please let it not be what I think to be…" she thought as she ran through the gates and sprinted as fast as she could to the church, praying for the children and Sister Elizabeth to be safe. Intense fear gripped her heart extremely tightly, the same fear which had suffocated her that night when her whole village was destroyed…

While coughing and panting heavily, she kicked open the door and went into the burning house, calling, "Sister Elizabeth! Gerald! Mary! Jill! Susie! Esther!" but to no avail, no one responded. Then she went into the kitchen. The table had been laid out; they had been awaiting her return for dinner… She called again, but still there was no response. As she went further into the house, while with each passing second the flames had spread over a greater surface of area and it was getting more and more difficult to breathe in the house, Haine resisted her body's instincts to run out of the house for air and continued to search for the children and Sister Elizabeth. And there they were, in the corner of the bedroom with bullets embedded into their bodies. They were motionless and laying in a pool of blood. They were gone, forever…

While kneeling onto the floor and lacking neither the will nor strength to stand back up, Haine remained still next to the bodies. She continued to stare at them, apparently unable to register anything at the moment. Suddenly, a jacket was placed over her and a hand was placed on her shoulder. It was Zachary.

"Come on let's get out of here… there's nothing you can do anymore…" Zachary said quietly.

Haine still didn't say anything, and Zachary lifted and half supported Haine out of the bedroom, out of the kitchen, passing by the table laid with dishes and out of the front door into the front yard.

"Hey Zachary…" said Haine monotonously, "Why did this have to happen? In just a few days time I was going to leave this place but now," she stared over at the house, "everything seems so pointless…" And before she knew it she felt her eyes sting and burn; she was crying uncontrollably and warm tears splashed onto her lap. She felt terrible.

"Reality is harsh…" he said, and patted Haine's head, "We will just have to find our answers and move on. Their deaths are no accidents… judging from the state of their bodies they must have been…" But before he could continue, someone from behind the bushes came out and said, "They died because this girl here posed a challenge to us."

Zachary and Haine looked over and saw none other than Simon Morgan. He walked towards the both of them, accompanied by the same three guys from before.

"You said you will never forgive us if we hurt your friends ever again didn't you bitch?" one of them said mockingly as he walked towards Haine, less than a meter away from her now. "Well what do you intend to do then? We just made those brats and that nun into swish cheese…"

But before she had knew what she was doing, she threw two knifes straight at the man's eyes, blinding him and at the same time conjuring up spikes from the ground. As he fell, he was impaled mercilessly by the spikes and a great volume of his blood splashed up, spraying Haine with blood. She continued to watch on with a cold expression on her face.

"Who was the one, who set the house on fire?" she asked, her voice shaking with rage.

"It's me," Simon Morgan replied and as he was about to step forward and place his hand into his pocket, a silver wire was drawn out from behind Haine and wrapped around his hand. Zachary had made his move.

"Oh it's you…" Simon said and he stared straight into Zachary's eyes, "I recognized you at the café yesterday and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but guess I was wrong, it really is you, Zachary Talor, Rufus's well known lackey... Tell me, how much does Rufus Robinson pay you to work for him? I'll pay you twice the amount."

"Sorry but working for scumbags like you will be way too demeaning for me…" and as Zachary said so, the hand which is holding onto the wire discharged bolts of electricity through it. He could manipulate electricity.

In an instant, Simon took out a dagger in his belt and slashed off his arm.

"A rational decision indeed…If you had been a second later you would have died from electrocution…" Zachary said and retracted his wire, rushing forward towards Simon.

"I'll leave the other two to you!" he shouted out to Haine as Simon, tying his tie over his bleeding arm and pulling out a gun with his other arm, he shot straight at Zachary. It grazed him slightly on his left shoulder and the two continued to strike at each other.

"You traitor…" Zachary said as he struck the left side of Simon's face with a punch and caught him by the collar, both their faces were now nose to nose, less than an inch within each other's. "Rufus took you in when you were still a child and yet you betrayed him…"

"He fucking killed my parents!" Simon yelled and just as he was about to aim his gun at Zachary, Zachary caught his arm and twisted it, dislocating it and caused Simon to shout out in agony.

As Simon crumbled to the floor, Zachary stood over him, picked up his gun and aimed it directly at Simon's head, saying, "Your parents were terrorists, they were a danger to people around and to themselves. It was inevitable that they had to be eliminated so that no further threats were presented to the public… If we had not done so about a whole city's worth of people would have died… but Rufus took pity on you as a child and took you in and yet you are producing weapons to commit the same terrorist acts as your parents…It is truly regretful…"

And as the trigger was pulled and broke the silence of the night, blood flowed profusely from Simon's forehead as he gradually closed his eyes, maintaining an expression of utmost loathing and fury till the very end.

In the meantime, Haine was fighting the other two. One of them lunged forward and attempted to slash her with a pocket knife which he had been hiding in his sleeve. Haine dodged in time and conjured up a sword, slicing the man across his waist and causing him to cough up blood. She proceeded impale him through his right lung and the man fell onto the floor and remained still, the bloody patch on his chest getting bigger and bigger by the second. Without warning, the last of the three aimed a hand pistol at her and shot her in the shoulder. Haine stumbled backwards slightly and grabbed her bleeding shoulder, forcing herself to focus on the enemy who was coming straight at her… Then abruptly, the enemy fell hard onto the ground and Haine turned towards Zachary. Apparently, he had wrapped his wire around the man's left leg and pulled him roughly to the ground. Then, keeping a firm grip on his wire, he discharged high voltages of electricity through it, electrocuting the man and causing him to tremble about violently. No more than 5 seconds later, all signs of life had left the man and he stayed still with his eyes and mouth still wide opened...

Haine continued to stare at that man, until excessive blood loss from her shoulder made her feel extremely light headed and as she kneeled slowly onto the floor, the surroundings started to blur and she fell forwards, with everything around her fading into darkness…


	10. In the hospital

Chapter 10

"Is she going to be ok?"

"Yea she was covered in so much blood when the guy Zachary brought her to the hospital…think she's got into some sort of fight or something?"

"Well knowing her she does tend to overdo things at times…"

"Hey look she is waking up!"

Haine opened her eyes slowly, slightly blinded by the fluorescent light in her hospital ward and found herself lying on a soft and smooth bed. As she attempted to get up, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and shuddered slightly.

"Careful there!" someone said and Haine looked up, realizing that it was her café manager, Mr Albus. He was carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Where am I?" she asked her colleagues who were gathered around her bed.

"You are in the hospital now Haine," one of them replied, "It was reported that Sister Elizabeth and the children were dead and the church was destroyed… is it true?"

And at that, Haine suddenly felt a familiar feeling of despair overwhelm her and she got lost in her thoughts, unable to answer anything… Just then, Mr Albus gave a slight, deliberate cough and said, "Now everyone she needs rest so let's leave now and not question her any further." And as a result, everyone except Mr Albus proceeded to leave the ward.

"These are for you," said Mr Albus as he smiled and passed over the flowers to Haine.

"Thank you…" Haine replied, and Mr Albus added, "Thank Zachary Talor, during the past 2 days when you were unconscious he was constantly outside the ward and looking out for you. A few minutes ago he handed me these flowers and told me to pass them to you, asking me to tell you goodbye and good luck… Hey where are you going Haine? You are still injured!"

But Haine had ignored the stinging pain in her shoulder, ignored the fact that she was still in her hospital clothes, and rushed out of the ward while disregarding all the inquiring stares at her along the way, finally arriving at the exit of the hospital. Pushing the door open and looking around desperately, she had finally spotted him. There among the crowd, the young man with dark brown hair and charming features stood out as clear as day. He was walking away from the hospital.

"Zachary!" Haine called out as loud as she could, but he appeared not to have heard her. So she ran, finally catching up with him and while almost out of breath, he pulled his shirt to stop him from walking away further. Zachary turned around and looked at Haine, slightly surprised.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"That's my line! Why are you going without even saying goodbye?" demanded Haine.

"I did but you were still sleeping so I asked Mr Albus to say it instead," he replied

"I…I...I want to go with you to London too!" said Haine suddenly, and when Zachary kept silent, still looking at her with a surprised look on his face, she continued, "Even though we knew each other for only a day but I felt extremely glad that I had met someone whom I could finally open my heart to completely… Even towards Sister Elizabeth I had to hold back on saying a lot of things and to stop them from finding out what I truly am… There are still a lot of things that I don't understand, like why my mother had abandoned me and why was there no option besides to sacrifice my village back then, as well as the true meaning of justice, and I believe that by following you I will eventually find the answers that I seek so please, don't go without me…"

Zachary reached into his pocket and handed a white handkerchief over to Haine, who suddenly realized that her eyes were watering.

"Are you sure? If you go to London with me, there's no turning back…" Zachary said very seriously as Haine wiped her eyes.

"I have never been surer in my life…" replied Haine firmly, and the two stared at each other intently for at least 10 seconds…

Then unexpectedly, Zachary burst out laughing and placing one hand on Haine's head, he said, "The way you looked just now was as though you were a prisoner on death row and on your way to the execution grounds or something…"

Feeling slightly abashed and annoyed, Haine replied, "I was thinking you will refuse!"

"Alright alright I was just trying to lighten up the atmosphere a little there, sorry if I made fun of you Haine," and Zachary smiled. In spite of herself, Haine smiled back and placed the handkerchief into her pocket; it was the first time he had addressed her directly by her name.

"Now then, you should go back to the hospital until you are fully recovered before we both set off for London, wouldn't want you to faint along the way would I?" said Zachary, and when Haine looked slightly reluctant, he added, "Don't worry, I will come back for you and pick you up from the hospital when you are discharged, I promise..."

"You won't attempt to abandon me will you?" Haine asked, still looking at Zachary suspiciously.

"I won't abandon you," answered Zachary, "no matter what happens."

And finally feeling assured, Haine started to walk slowly back to the hospital while Zachary turned towards the cab waiting for him, preparing to set off for the airport and to get another ticket to London…


	11. On the plane

Chapter 11

"Does that stuff actually taste nice?" asked Haine as she stared at the glass that Zachary was drinking from.

"Do you mean red wine?" and as Zachary took a sip, Haine added, "Alcohol in general I mean…"

"It taste pretty good once a person is used to its taste, want to try some? I can get a glass from the air hostess if you like…" he said.

Both of them were sitting on the plane now, getting ready to land in London within the next hour or so. Just yesterday night, having said her farewells to all her friends at the café, Haine went to the church and visited Sister Elizabeth and the children's graves one final time before finally setting off to the airport with Zachary.

And as the air hostess passed by their seats again, Haine called out, "May I have some red wine please?" but the air hostess smiled politely at her and said, "I am sorry we don't serve alcohol to minors, would you like some orange juice instead?" and at that, Zachary laughed into his glass while Haine looked irritated, feeling insulted for being treated like a kid.

"Can you refill my glass for me then?" Zachary asked the air hostess and after she had done so and gone on to other passengers, he passed the glass over to Haine, saying, "You can try some now, too bad you died at 16 eh, if you had stopped ageing when you were over 21 like me you could have an access to more things.."

"Like what? Pornography?" replied Haine and as she took a slight sip from the glass, she choked and spit it out onto a piece of tissue, saying, "I can't believe people drink this stuff, it is disgusting!"

"You really are still a kid," Zachary said as he took the glass back and finished it within the next few consecutive sips.

"Hey," Haine said suddenly, sounding a little insecure, "Does Mr Robinson know I am going to his place?"

"Call him Rufus, that's what he asks everyone around to call him. I already told him that you were coming and he doesn't mind, in fact he seems happy that another is going to live with us in the mansion," Zachary replied.

"In the mansion eh," said Haine, and she continued, "Who lives in the mansion? Besides you and Rufus I mean…"

"Let's see, basically our mansion is a façade for an electronics company while Rufus is the directing manager. I, on the other hand is his right hand subordinate along with his other assistant, or rather his own son, Vincent Robinson. And then there is the secretary, Amber Lockhart as well as Rufus's other son, Sebastian Robinson, who acts as the treasurer and basically the rest of the workers are of equal ranks and distributed different duties. Not everyone in the mansion is able to see the light however, there are quite a few who can like Rufus himself, Vincent, Amber, Sebastian and of course, I can see the light too, but some among the workers who possess no unique abilities are pretty decent and qualified at combat themselves when they are given external missions to carry out…" said Zachary.

"External missions?" asked Haine, feeling slightly puzzled.

"As I mentioned just now, the mansion is merely a façade for an electronics company. The true identity however is that of an organization which deals mostly with assassination missions as well as spying duties. Our rationales are however justified," replied Zachary and then he added, "Rufus believes that in this world it is necessary to drive out unwanted pus at times to maintain its balance and so that's what we do, we get rid of them."

After a few moments of silence, Zachary asked, "Do you want to back out now after hearing all these? You can still go back to Sydney if you want…"

"I never regret the decisions I make," said Haine confidently, and added, "I believe in Rufus's views, that the world is better off without some people…" and at that, the faces of Hiou Sousuke, Hiou Kisuke, Simon Morgan and his three subordinates appeared in her mind, "and that's why I am going to help you in getting rid of them, even if I have to kill people."

"Guess you really are made of stronger stuff than I thought you were," said Zachary, "when you get to the mansion, you will be placed in the junior division whereby for office work you will manage simple activities such as the photocopy of documents and recording of statistics while for the rest of the time, you will be trained in practical physical combat such as handling a pistol, plotting a trajectory for a rifle and hands on fighting. Since you can see the light, you will have a special pull out class on weekends to refine and perfect your abilities to the fullest."

"Don't fret," added Zachary, as he noticed the concerned look on Haine's face. "You will be guided in an orderly fashion and the junior division has plenty of other people in training too besides yourself. And if you ever run into any problems, you can come find me as well..." and at that, Haine felt immensely relieved.

As Haine stared through the window and continued to imagine how the mansion is going to look like, the plane had announced, "All passengers please pay attention, owing to nice weather today we will be landing a little earlier than expected in London. Please fasten your seat belts and refrain from standing on the plane as we prepare to land."

And feeling the plane descending rapidly and the view of buildings becoming more and more distinct amidst the clouds through the plane window, Haine felt a leap of joy inside. She was arriving in London soon.


	12. Welcome to the mansion

Chapter 12

London city was extremely lively and vibrant, constantly crowded with people whom were often seen carrying no less than 5 shopping bags in each hand. Sticking close to Zachary, Haine took the chance to look around at the city and observed the people around…

"Are you listening?" asked Zachary suddenly, and Haine shook slightly in surprise, replying, "Sorry what did you just say? I was kind of distracted just now…"

"I asked if you were hungry, it's already slightly over lunch hour and we haven't had anything to eat since we alighted from the plane…" said Zachary.

"Yea, just a little…" answered Haine. And so, both of them went into an Italian restaurant nearby and took a seat. After Zachary had placed his order on a plate of seafood pasta, he asked Haine, "Anything caught your eye?"

Haine stared at the desserts corner, and after about a minute or so, she decided on a Tiramisu, a Neapolitan ice cream sundae, a Genoise cake and 8 Italian ice, each of different flavours- cherry, lemon, blue raspberry, pineapple, coconut, blueberry, orange and chocolate.

Feeling slightly astonished, Zachary asked, "Desserts only?"

"Yup! I always eat mainly desserts for my meals since I am such a glutton for sweet snacks. Back in Sydney when I worked in the café I was in charge of eating up all the leftover cakes everyday!" replied Haine joyfully.

And so after their lunch, they started heading towards the mansion and finally, after about 20 minutes of walking, Zachary and Haine arrived at its gates. The mansion was much larger than what Haine had expected. In the front yard there was a colourful garden filled with roses and a small pond filled with water lilies. And in the middle of the garden was an elegant and huge white fountain spraying up shiny pearls of water at the surrounding plants. It showed two baby angels playing a harp each.

"Come on let's go…" said Zachary as he entered through the front door, with Haine following behind him, still feeling awed at the sight of the mansion.

The moment Zachary had entered, a girl with light brown hair in her early teens came running towards him.

"Amber told me you were going to be back 3 days before today! What happened?" the girl asked.

"Sorry Sarah," and Zachary gave an apologetic look, "I had to bring someone over so I came back a little later than expected. Where is Rufus?"

"In his office now," the girl replied, and suddenly noticing Haine behind Zachary, she asked with a grin on her face, "So you've finally got a girlfriend bro? As your sister I feel immensely proud of you!"

"Stop fooling around Sarah," said Zachary, "She is going to be a new member of the mansion here."

"Oh I'm so sorry," said Sarah to Haine, suddenly feeling embarrassed and continued, "I really thought you were…"

"It's ok," said Haine and she smiled, "You are Zachary's sister aren't you? I am Haine Amamiya, you can just call me Haine."

"And I am Sarah Taylor. You can call me Sarah. If there's anything you are not sure of in the mansion you can just ask me anytime!" she said cheerfully as she walked away.

"Don't mind her," said Zachary as he approached the 3 lifts and pressed the "up" button.

"You've got a bubbly little sister," said Haine as they both entered the lift which came and headed towards the 4th floor where Rufus's office was. "Is Rufus a scary guy? Like I am suddenly feeling really nervous right now…"

"Well he can be really scary when he wants to but on normal days he's just really laid back. But don't be deceived though," said Zachary suddenly, "He is a prodigy since young with an IQ of over 200. Though he seems secretive at times he really does care for us all. Oh and by the way he is a technopath…"

"Technopath?" asked Haine.

"That means he can communicate with machines directly," said Zachary. And in a blink of an eye, both of them were standing right in front of a door. Upon knocking it twice, a voice called out, "Please come in, Zachary." Taking a deep breath, Haine walked into the room with Zachary, and couldn't help but notice that the office had seemed more ordinary than she had expected it to be like. The sides were laid with bookshelves containing many thick and profound books and two squishy sofas was each at one end of the office. In the middle was a round carpet, while a desk which was laid with documents and a photo frame was on it, as well as a chair which was right next to the desk. A bespectacled person with light blond hair and a thin face was sitting on the chair. Like Zachary, he looked half Asian, half Caucasian and seemed to have the appearance of a man in his early thirties. He reminded Haine of a supermodel she saw on the cover of one of her friends' magazine at the café.

"That's my late wife, Elena," the man said as he stood up and walked towards Haine, noticing that she was staring at the photo frame on the table which held the photo of an extremely beautiful ash-blond Caucasian woman with impeccable grace. "And you must be Haine," he said as he held out his hand.

"Yes and it is a pleasure to meet you Rufus, er… I mean Mr Robinson!" said Haine, feeling slightly embarrassed while shaking his hand.

Chuckling slightly, Rufus answered, "Just call me Rufus, that's what everyone calls me around here. I heard your story from Zachary, Haine, and I still insist that you consider carefully about joining our organization…"

"I know I may lack the qualifications at some aspects but I promise to train hard!" Haine said eagerly.

"That's not what I meant," said Rufus in a slightly more serious tone, "I am sure Zachary has told you that what we are doing behind the mask of an electronics company is to spy on people, receive information and recover stolen goods at times and in some occasions, assassination missions are required as well. In other words, we kill people. Do you think that you will really be willing to do all that at any random point that you may be asked to do so?"

"Yes I am," replied Haine firmly, to which Rufus answered with a sudden inscrutable expression on his face, "You really are a strong woman, it's been a while since I have seen someone as strong minded as her… She had the most resolute of minds and yet the most beautiful of faces as well. A pity she has been gone for some time now…"

And after a few uncomfortable moments of silence had passed, Rufus suddenly said, "Zachary," and Zachary stepped forward, "Prepare Haine a room and give her the training schedule which starts tomorrow, as well as her office duties. For now just assign her the easy job of sorting out the documents from last month."

"I will," replied Zachary casually and just as he was about to leave the office with Haine, Rufus abruptly said, "Amber missed you when you were in Sydney, Zachary, do pay her a visit in her room later at night will you…" And as Zachary turned around and gave a brief nod to Rufus, he went into the lift with Haine and headed towards the basement level.

Apparently, the basement was an underground tunnel leading to the living area. And as they took the escalator up 2 levels and continued walking along the corridors, Zachary suddenly stopped at a door labeled 407. "This will be your room", said Zachary and he motioned for Haine to place a thumb on a slide next to the door knob. "It will open only with your fingerprint authorization from now on. Congratulations," and Zachary placed a hand on Haine's head, "You are now officially one of us."And as Zachary walked away, Haine gave a slight smile at him.

Entering her room, she saw that it had consisted of a super single sized bed, a book shelf, a desk with an alarm clock on it and a chair next to the desk as well as a small bathroom. Feeling exhausted from the plane ride, she lied onto her bed and thought about the tasks ahead which awaits her tomorrow, before drifting off into a deep slumber…


	13. The start of training

Chapter 13

In about half an hour's time Haine was supposed to report to the indoor running track for warm up exercises with other members of the junior division. Still holding onto her training schedule since early this morning when she had woken up, she continued to stare at it intently. The time table was basically the same for all days, except for the weekends whereby for her pull out class, designed for members with special abilities, she had a two hour time slot on both Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 5 pm. For weekdays, the schedule goes like this:

9am:

Warm up

10am:

Pistol training

-Sharp shooting

-Speed training

12pm:

Lunch break

1pm:

Rifle training

-Map reading theory

-Plotting of trajectory

3pm:

Hands on combat

5pm:

Dismissal and dinner

"Feels like back in school," thought Haine at once, and she proceeded to take out a set of T-shirt and shorts from her wardrobe next to the bathroom and got dressed. "Well at least Zachary will be there…" she told herself as she remembered the bottom right hand corner of the schedule which wrote, "Person(s) in charge: Zachary Taylor/Vincent Robinson". Looking forward and feeling excited to see Zachary again, she got out of her room at once and passing through the basement, she headed straight to the running track area. However, upon arriving, Zachary was nowhere in sight but instead, a man who looked slightly older than Zachary was sitting down on one of the chairs. Like his father, Vincent Robinson had light blond hair which spiked up slightly more than Rufus's. They could pass off as twin brothers in appearances, except that Vincent did not wear glasses. Noticing Haine entering the stadium, he walked towards her and said, "So you are the newest member eh? Haine Amamiya…"

Haine was slightly taken aback, she had expected Vincent's voice to sound like Rufus's, only that it was much deeper, and much colder…

"Yes," Haine replied and before she could stop herself, she asked, "Hey Mr Robinson, where is Zachary?"

"Call me coach," Vincent answered, then staring at Haine for a few seconds, he continued, "Zachary hardly drops by here to train the junior division members. He is currently busy with Rufus in his office duties. Once in a while he may come by and visit however…"

"I see," and Haine felt extremely disappointed.

Soon, other members arrived. Among them were many young men in their early twenties and a few women just over twenty as well. Few were middle aged men and almost none seemed to look like teenagers, except herself and another girl who looked about 18 years old. When about 20 people had arrived, Vincent said to the group, "It's exactly 9am now. Everyone, 6km around the track and no stopping until I say so…"

"6km?" thought Haine to herself in shock, she had been used to running errands and had better stamina than most around her but still, 6 km was a little too unreasonable for a mere warm up…

"NOW!" yelled Vincent, and everyone stepped onto their toes at once and ran.

Determined not to admit defeat on her first day at training, Haine continued to run and tried her best not to lack behind. The group's stamina was amazing; most of them, though already panting heavily like she was, did not betray a single hint of lethargy and persisted on with their initial pace. Finally, after what seemed like many minutes of torture, everyone slowed down and eventually stopped, completing their final round. Feeling dizzy and nauseous, Haine tried her best to keep her balance and she stood still, out of breath, and stared at the track. There were two middle aged men who were running.

"Want some water?" one of the women smiled and passed her a bottle of mineral water.

"Thanks, you are?" asked Haine as she gulped down a large volume of water at once.

"I am Monica, you are Haine aren't you? Everyone's been talking about you, something about a newcomer who is going to join our team and that she is really young and cute and could see the light…" replied Monica.

"Oh," said Haine, who had no idea that there were so many people who had been expecting her to come.

"So is it true?" asked Monica excitedly, and looking at Haine's puzzled expression, she continued, "That you can see the light I mean?"

"Yea, I guess so…" Haine replied.

"That's awesome!" said Monica, her voice noticeably filled with admiration now, "The only people around who can do so are the coach and that girl over there," and she pointed towards the other teenager who was now at the corner, busy chatting with another guy, "Not many knows what Yulia's ability is though, even I am curious myself. On the other hand, the coach can create barriers. So what is your special power?"

But before Haine could answer, a voice called out, "Break's over!" and everyone looked over, apparently the two men had just finished their 6km of warm up.

As they were led from the track to the pistol training room, Haine looked over at the girl called Yulia, taking more notice and greater interest now after her conversation with Monica. "So she can see the light too," she thought, "I wonder what her death experience was like…" and without noticing where she was going, Haine bumped straight into her.

"Hey watch it newcomer!" said Yulia, looking genuinely annoyed.

"I am…sorry," apologized Haine, slightly surprised at the girl's display of aggression.

"Let me tell you something," said Yulia while she stared directly into Haine's face, "Don't think you are such a big shot just because you are a newcomer and that you are able to see the light. I won't ever accept you as one of us so you are mistaken if you can continue to stay here just because you have connections with Zachary Taylor…"

And as she said so, she walked away and even from a distance as Haine tried to catch up with the rest of the group she could hear Yulia telling one of the guys in front, "Just gave her a warning before she thinks too full of herself", leaving Haine slightly stunned.

"What's her problem…" she thought but before she could get absorbed in her thoughts further, the group had stopped walking. They had arrived at the pistol training room.


	14. Pistol training

Chapter 14

Everyone lined in a straight row and was each handed a pistol. 20 targets were placed in front of them, about 50 meters away.

"Now," said Vincent, "As someone new has joined us today, we will recap the procedures in loading, unloading and reloading the gun so pay attention..."

As he said so, he demonstrated the steps for no less than 3 times before continuing on, "The objective is simple; aim for the target's middle. In the meantime I will be walking around to check on each of you and correct any possible mistakes you may have made, however insignificant they may be..."

And after that, everyone started firing away. The gun was heavier than Haine expected it to be and as a result a few of her bullets hit outside the target instead. However, after the first few failed attempts, she got used to its strength and managed to hit the target with every single bullet, with each one closer to the centre than the other. Halfway through, Haine looked over at the others. Most of them had decent standards of sharpshooting skills, with all bullets hitting the target and a few even hitting less than a centimeter away from the centre itself. A few others however, were exceptionally skillful and among them was Yulia. She had shot 7 out of 10 of her bullets directly in the centre of the target, with 3 missing only by a few millimeters or so.

As Vincent walked past Yulia, he merely stared at her while she continued to fire at her target for a few seconds and proceeded to the others, apparently unable to find any flaw in her practice. Realizing that Vincent was going to come to her any second, Haine continued to practise and shot consecutively at the target before at last, Vincent was standing directly behind her.

Inhaling a deep gulp of air, she imagined herself holding onto the white knife which she normally conjured up with her abilities except now that it was a gun instead of a knife. Then, aiming it directly on the line through the centre of the target, she breathed out slowly and fired three shots consecutively, all three which were bullseye.

"Not bad," said Vincent and he leaned over to Haine and added, "But your grip is a little too tight and the angle is slightly wrong." And after helping her adjust, she shot again, this time firing 6 shots at once which all managed to hit the centre of the target.

"First time handling a gun?" asked Vincent.

"Yes," replied Haine unsurely as a few around gasped, visibly impressed.

"No prior training in sharp shooting or experiences in aiming at targets?" he asked again.

"Not exactly but back at Japan I used to play games which required a certain amount of accuracy though," answered Haine.

"I'll say your sharp shooting skills are passable, just that you need to refine your grip further as well as learn to shoot faster. In practical work regardless of how accurate your shots may be but if you are slow the enemy will get you before you get him. Continue practicing on your own and next lesson we will review once again." said Vincent.

"I understand," said Haine, then suddenly, just when she was about to hold up her pistol and practise a few more rounds, a bell rang.

"Lunch time everyone," said Vincent, "Be at the rifle training room by 1pm."


	15. Accidental conflicts

Chapter 15

"See her?"

"Where?"

"The short girl right over there, the newcomer at our pistol training session just now… I heard she can see the light too…"

"Really? But she looks real young though…Or is it just because she is Asian?"

"Of course she does! People like them don't age after all…"

Haine was sitting in the lunching area with Monica and chewing onto her turkey sandwich, ignoring all the uncomfortable stares at her while she tried her best to distract herself by engaging in a conversation with Monica.

"So this Yulia person joined the junior division about a year ago?" asked Haine.

"Yea she did," replied Monica, whom was taking a sip from her glass of fruit punch, "Back then she was pretty notorious though, and picked fights with almost anyone she could find but strangely, she is kind of close to Gerald over there," and as Monica said so, she pointed towards a guy who seemed to be slightly over 20 years old who had happened to be chatting with Yulia earlier this morning. "Yulia could have passed the examination to join the main branch of the organization last year, but she failed deliberately at the last test to stay with Gerald this year."

"Test?" croaked Haine, feeling suddenly startled. No one had told her about any tests.

"Yea of course, you don't intend to stay in the junior division forever do you?" said Monica and she continued, "I failed for the past 2 years, but I am determined to pass this year though." And taking a last sip from her cup of juice, Monica stood up and said, "I am heading to the rifle training room early today, see you later…" and she went off.

Haine continued to look at Yulia, who happened to turn around and the both of them stared at each other in the eye, with Yulia giving a look which suggested unpleasantness in every way before finally looking away. Not wanting to stay around her any longer, Haine got up and headed towards the rifle room early as well.

The riffle room had many tables and chairs in it and looked no different from any ordinary class room except for being slightly more spacey. The walls were pasted with many maps of different scales and by the side o f the room was a long wooden table with many rifles placed on it. Currently, only Haine and Monica were present in the room.

"What are we suppose to do later on?" asked Haine, to which Monica replied, "Most likely plotting which points on the maps are more probable to be sniping spots, for instance an area with high winds would have a slimmer chance of being a suitable choice of sniping spot owing to the high possibility of the bullet going off course. If we manage to eliminate most of the spots in the vicinity, we may be able to track down the enemy's sniper more easily."

"Then when will we ever get practical training in sniping?" questioned Haine.

"Well, most likely only when we join the main branch," Monica responded.

Then, when the clock on the wall finally showed 1 pm, Vincent, along with the rest of the division came in.

"I need all of you to settle down and assign yourselves into groups," said Vincent as everyone gathered around. "Since there are 20 of you at the moment, I will split you guys up into 5 groups of 4." Haine continued to stare at the various maps on the walls while others were being assigned groups by Vincent.

And finally, while sorting out the last few groups, Vincent said, "Monica you go with Gerald, Stephanie and Edward while Haine," and Haine suddenly looked up, "you go with Nigel, Claire and Yulia." Haine looked right at Yulia before quickly looking away.

"All of you will be given a detailed map of New York city, and point out the areas where a sniping attack is most likely to occur. Now gather in your groups," commanded Vincent.

Haine walked slowly over to the other three in her group, whom were already settled down and exploring the map on the table.

One of them looked up and while smiling, she said, "I am Claire, nice to meet you Haine."

"And I am Nigel," the other one said.

"Nice to meet you," replied Haine, "I am…"

"Haine Amamiya, our new celebrity show off who won't feel at ease unless she demonstrates to the whole class how amazingly breathtaking she is with a hand pistol," said Yulia sarcastically.

Not expecting things to get any better soon and not wanting to increase the number of misunderstandings between them, Haine tried her best to ignore Yulia's snide remarks and placed full attention on plotting the map. However, not long after, about 30 minutes or so, tension started to rise in the group once again.

"This spot can't be a sniper's hiding area because it's too obvious," said Yulia, to which Claire retorted, "Expect the unexpected isn't it? If one were to overlook this spot we would be missing out on a good oopportunity."

"Why don't you talk some sense for just a second," snapped Yulia. At the end of her tether, Claire shouted while several heads turned around, "Yulia Pavlichenko! Just because you can see the light doesn't make you a grade above us! Constantly treating people around you like dirt and keeping up with that snobbish attitude of yours… no wonder your family abandoned you, you are a total letdown!"

In that instant, Yulia stood up and kicked the table aside, causing one of its legs to break and the whole table to collapse. She was wearing an expression of deepest loathing. Then, she ran straight at Claire and attempted to punch her. But before she could do so, Haine stepped in front and grabbed hold of her hand, keeping a firm grip on it.

"Please stop it," said Haine, and the two looked at each other. Yulia looked outraged.

"You better get out of the way if you don't want to have your face broken too, once I deal with that bitch over there," and Yulia pointed aggressively at Claire, who looked half shocked, half terrified, "It will be your turn…"

But before either of them could make a move, Vincent had come forth, looking displeased in contrast to his usual apathetic and cold expression. "Stop it all of you! One move from any of you and you will all receive severe punishments!" said Vincent dangerously, before Haine and Yulia finally pulled away from each other.

"Are you ok?" Haine asked Claire as they returned back to their seats.

"Yea, thanks," replied Claire, who still looked visibly frightened at the sight of Yulia.

For the rest of the session, after switching to another intact table, the group continued to plot the map silently while Yulia, though still looking resentful, contained her emotions to the best of her abilities. Finally, for what had seemed like an eternity of suffocating silence, it was 3pm and time for physical combat training. Yulia was the first one to stand up. As she walked pass Claire who trembled slightly she stopped at Haine and said very quietly, "I will be looking forward to fighting you." and she left, shortly joined by Gerald.

Reluctant, Haine got up and left the room, following the group's lead and thought to herself glumly, "I am so not looking forward to physical combat training…"


	16. Physical combat battles

Chapter 16

"Everyone has different fighting styles," said Vincent, as everyone gathered around in the combat room. It was basically an extremely big room with an array of conspicuously well maintained weapons which were hung on one side of the wall. The floor was grayish concrete and the ceiling had several fluorescent lights. "And it is essential that you are all exposed to various fighting styles in order to recognize as many fighting patterns as possible to counter them efficiently in practical battle," continued Vincent, "for today I will have everyone line up in 2 rows of 10 and switching partners once 1 of the 2 seems to have dominated over the other in battle. In the meantime due to last minute arrangements, I have to run down to the office to help Rufus. Misbehaviour will not be tolerated," and at that, giving a swift glance over at everyone, Vincent walked off and left, leaving the division to pair up with each other.

Without thinking, Haine stood the furthest end from Yulia and paired up with Nigel and no more than a minute or so when everyone has paired up with somebody else, they all engaged in combat. It was basically the same feeling as when she was still alone wandering about the streets of Japan; she had met into various gangster groups along the way, some whom were renowned rapists and robbers at large, and was forced to defend herself from them while she was constantly being attacked. Dodging a kick towards her left, she jumped behind Nigel in an instant and elbowed him in the back, causing him to fall over onto the floor. Then, aiming a swift kick over at him, she stopped her leg directly in front of his face.

"My win," said Haine.

"Looks like it," replied Nigel and they proceeded to change partners with others.

During the next 45 minutes or so, there was nothing but the sound of heavy breathing in the room. Drinking a small sip of water and wiping off her sweat from her forehead, Haine recovered quickly and proceeded to pair up with another, until someone from the far end of the room screamed, causing Haine to turn around.

"Stop it Yulia! She can't fight anymore, just let her off…"

"Yea, her nose is already bleeding…"

Initially, Haine was almost sure that the unfortunate victim had been Claire, whom had a dispute with Yulia from earlier on. However, upon closer observation, to her horror, it was Monica, who seemed to be anxiously wiping off blood which was flowing profusely from her nose. Her arms and legs were covered in vivid bruises and she had trouble maintaining her balance with her left ankle sprained.

Ignoring the pleads and persuasion attempts which everyone gave around her, Yulia continued to lunged forward at Monica, who continued to stand there and stare at the oncoming attack defenselessly, apparently immobilized by her injured ankle and unable to counter attack. Instinctively, Haine grabbed a short spear from the wall and threw it in the direction of the pair, causing it to land between Yulia and Monica. Everyone looked over at Haine, who started walking towards Yulia.

"Finally making your move," asked Yulia. There was no sarcasm in her voice, only pure eagerness and desire for battle.

"Leave her alone," said Haine, who looked over at Monica whom was being supported by other members to the side benches. A few of them were bandaging her ankle with the first aid kit. "If you want a battle that bad then I'll fight you Yulia…"

"I've been waiting for you to say that," answered Yulia, and looking over at the spear embedded deep into the floor, she added, "Why not we bring it up a notch a bit? Let's pick a weapon each from the wall."

"I am fine with anything," replied Haine, and looking over at Monica whom was looking worriedly over at Haine, she gave a brief smile over at her and looked back at Yulia, with anger rising in her like never before.

"Stop it Yulia," Gerald had said, "The coach won't be glad when he finds out and I don't want to see you get hurt unnecessarily either…"

"Sorry Gerald but she was the one who issued the challenge, not me," and as she said so, she grabbed a rapier from the wall while Haine picked a pair of knifes. Everyone around started to back away slowly, leaving the two to stand at opposite ends of the room each. Then, without warning, the two had run towards each other with their respective weapons clutched tightly in their hands.

As though expecting her opponent to attack her right side, Yulia dodged to the left with much certainty and sliced Haine across her right shoulder viciously. Blood sprayed onto her shirt but she did not slow down and countered with a back slash, causing only a small gash on Yulia's back. As the both of them continued to battle, Haine had proceeded to throw one of the knifes in her hand and managed to graze Yulia's leg only ever so slightly while Yulia ran and aimed a kick toward her, to which Haine narrowly evaded.

"How is she doing it?" Haine couldn't help but wondered. Just a few seconds ago before Haine had even made her move Yulia had jumped away from the spot which Haine was about to attack and cut Haine on her left thigh. Temporarily lost in her thoughts, Haine did nothing but block and dodge for the next one minute or so until…

Haine, changing her course at the last minute, had aimed a punch at Yulia instead of blocking at her with her knife, which she had originally intended to do so. Yulia stumbled backwards and placed her hand on the right side of her face which was slightly bruised from the punch, looking somewhat surprised.

"So that's how you do it," said Haine, staring straight at Yulia, who looked indifferent, "You can see the opponent's attack even before he strikes…In other word, you can see a few seconds into the future can you?"

"Not bad," replied Yulia, finally letting go of her face, "it's been a while since someone has managed to land a hit on me. This pain, it's nostalgic…"

"Your abilities are limited though," Hained added, "If a person changes his course at the very last moment you won't be able to counter attack in time will you, and that's why you failed to dodge my attack just a moment ago…"

"So what…" said Yulia as she continued to strike at Haine. Despite the fact that she had figured out her opponent's trump card, owing to more severe injuries from earlier on in the battle, Haine response was slightly slower than before. Feeling her balance thrown off from losing too much blood, she barely managed to dodge Yulia's rapier attack and failed to block her kick effectively, causing her only knife to fly out of her hands. As Yulia's rapier came towards her, Haine, out of desperation, conjured up a short sword from her hand and blocked the rapier. Several people around gasped and even Yulia who was engaged in battle had a look of surprise on her face. Taking this chance, Haine kicked Yulia in the stomach with such force that Yulia dropped her weapon and gripped onto her stomach in pain. However, just as Haine was about to finish off the battle, she felt herself bumping into a seemingly invisible wall which threw her backwards. The door burst open and a deep, thundering voice yelled out, "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TWO DOING?"

Haine looked over and felt her heart in her stomach; Vincent had returned, undoubtedly the one who had created the barrier from earlier on which had repelled Haine away from Yulia. At the sight of Yulia, whose face was bruised and the rapier which was landing a few feet away from her while at Haine, who had blood trickling down from her shoulder and thigh and staining the concrete floor, furthermore holding onto a short sword and two knives which she had just conjured up with her powers, Vincent had understood. However, just as he was about to open his mouth again, unquestionably to yell at them once more, the door opened a second time and a familiar voice called out, "Yo Vincent, I was thinking of dropping by to see how the junior division is doing…" and the voice died away as the man stopped right next to Vincent and stared from Haine to Yulia, Yulia to Haine. It was Zachary. "Bad timing eh," he said.

"Both of you will be reported to Rufus and your punishments will be determined and sent to your rooms. A second time something like this happens again and the both of you will be chased out of the mansion. But in the meantime," said Vincent, looking over at the pair, "go to the infirmary and get your wounds treated."

Still bleeding and covered in wounds, Haine started to walk towards the door and feeling too ashamed to face Zachary, she avoided his gaze and broke into a run towards the infirmary. Yulia, who had finally recovered from the blow to her stomach, had straightened up her back and supported by Gerald, the two of them started to head towards the infirmary as well.

Staring at the rest of the group after the three had just left the room, Vincent said, "Clear up the area everyone and after that all of you can be dismissed." While the others were clearing up the area, Zachary ruffled his hair and said, "Kids these days sure are difficult to handle…" and to which Vincent replied, "Easy for you to say, stuck in the office all day…"

About a few minutes or so when the area was finally neat and tidy again, everyone headed towards the dining area, chatting and gossiping along the way.

"I hope Haine is okay," Monica said.

"Yea, but did you see how she made weapons appear out of thin air just now? Guess people who can see the light are really something else…" said Stephanie.

"I knew she wasn't normal, besides being able to see the light I mean," said Claire, "When we were at the rifle room just now, she caught Yulia's punch like it was nothing. I mean not many people here are able to stop a punch like that…"

As the group continued to chatter away, a voice from behind had suddenly asked, "Have you guys seen Haine?" The three jumped, failing to notice that Zachary had been standing behind them all along.

"No," replied Monica, "She hasn't been back since she went to the infirmary."

"I see, well thanks anyway," and as Zachary walked away, Claire suddenly walked up to him and said, "If you see her please pass this to her," and she handed over a lunch box to him, "She must be starving by this time if she hasn't had anything to eat yet…"

"Ok I will," said Zachary and he smiled, causing Claire to blush and walk away.

In the meantime, sitting on a wooden bench near the fountain and right next to the pond, Haine picked up a pebble and threw it across the pond, causing it to bounce a few times on the surface before finally submerging beneath the waters and sinking right down below. Proceeding to pick up a few more pebbles, she stopped when a hand was suddenly placed on her head.

"I heard about what happened," Zachary said as he sat on the bench next to Haine.

"What does it matter," said Haine bitterly as she continued to throw the pebble across the pond, "I must be the first one in the mansion to get into trouble on my first day of training…"

"Not exactly," answered Zachary and he sounded slightly amused. "When I was here on my first day many years ago I got into trouble just like you did, except that I bashed up 4 boys instead of one girl…"

"What?" said Haine before she could stop herself, "What did they do to make you that mad?"

"They bullied my sister," replied Zachary as he went on to pick up a pebble and followed Haine's example.

"You must be really protective of your sister to go that far," said Haine, "Back then I felt really mad at Yulia for beating up Moncia so badly at a mere training session that I couldn't care much about the consequences when I started picking a fight with her. My parents," then she stopped suddenly, and continued, "My adoptive parents I mean, they always said I was impulsive and had the tendency to do things without regarding much about the outcome. Guess they were right…"

"That may or may not go against you at times," said Zachary.

"What do you mean?" asked Haine, feeling slightly confused.

"Impulsivity is double edged, when you don't regard much about the consequences can you truly reach your greatest potential at times. However, when you overdo it, it will tend to backfire and land you in a worse situation than before so don't feel too upset about yourself," said Zachary as he watched his pebble sink to the bottom of the pond, "You are just being human…"

A few minutes passed by and the two continued to throw pebbles across the pond, scattering the water lilies apart from one another until Zachary finally said, "I have to get going now, if I return late Sarah is going to start lecturing me again." and as he stood up, he handed the lunch box over to Haine and said, "Claire told me to pass this to you, and don't worry so much about the punishments… Knowing Rufus it's bound to be something stupid…" As he turned around and waved, Haine continued to sit there and while tucking in to her lunch box, she felt surprisingly much better than she had felt a few moments ago.


	17. Yulia's past

Chapter 17

It was late at night when Haine had finally returned to her room, feeling satiated from her dinner. Gathering a clean set of clothes from the wardrobe, she was about to enter the bathroom when someone had suddenly knock on her door twice. Placing her clothes on the bed, she opened the door and to Haine's surprise, it was Gerald.

"Sorry to disturb you so late at night but I wish to talk to you," he said.

At a loss for words, Haine stood aside and let him in. As both of them sat at the edge of the bed and faced each other, Haine spoke in a voice which had undeniably carried a tone of hostility in it, "Pretty bold of you to visit a girl's room so late at night, so what do you want to talk about?", and Haine continued to stare at Gerald in suspicion; he had after all been the close friend of the one who attacked her just now.

"I mean no harm," said Gerald at once, "I just want to talk to you about Yulia, why is she the way she is now."

When Haine made no response, Gerald continued, "A few years back, before she was brought in to the mansion, she and I were both in the same child orphanage in Far East Russia. Though it is an orphanage in name, it is in fact a concentration camp for children. They chose to keep up the front wall of an orphanage solely to receive government funding for their selfish gains. And the people there," and Gerald suddenly made an angry and disgusted look on his face, "Apart from forcing us to study day in and day night with no more than 4 hours of sleep each day, these people enjoy giving us punishments for no particular reason at all. We had to learn how to defend ourselves and prepare to get hit by anyone of them several times a day," and at that, Haine suddenly thought about the fight she had with Yulia, whereby after striking her in the stomach she had most definitely said, " 'This pain, it's nostalgic…'"

"After several months of brutality however, Yulia attempted to escape but obviously, she got caught and tortured till her body could hold out no longer. And ever since then, Yulia could see the light. It was not long after that Rufus had sent many of his subordinates and raided the place, attempting to rescue everyone. However sadly," and Gerald made a solemn expression on his face, "The only ones who had survived were Yulia and I. Those scums had bombed the whole building and tried to escape on their own while Yulia, who was in the torture chamber at that time deep beneath the grounds and presumably dead, and I who had gone to pay her what I thought was a final visit, managed to evade the explosion and got out safely. They were caught at the end of course," said Gerald, "And killed by several members of the main branch. We joined Rufus and resided in this mansion ever since then but Yulia, who never emotionally recovered from her trauma, hated everyone around and implemented the rule of survival of the fittest on herself."

Haine continued to look at Gerald, not sure of what expression she should make, but Gerald continued saying, "I tell you this not so that she would be forgiven for what she did during today's combat session but so that you can understand her better and not hold it too hard against her."

"When Claire had confronted her at the rifle room," spoke Haine at last, "She said something about her family abandoning her…"

"And so they did," replied Gerald sadly, "They chose to send her to the orphanage, despite being fully aware that it was a concentration camp, all for a petty sum of money."

Haine continued to stare at the floor, and felt a mixture of emotions inside her, and Gerald suddenly said, "I thank you for your time Ms Amamiya." and as he turned to leave, Haine called back, "Call me Haine," she smiled as Gerald glanced back, "and Yulia is really lucky to have a friend like you."

"That's because I care for her as more than a friend," answered Gerald and not giving any further explanation, he left the room, but not before giving a nod and smile in return.


	18. Punishment

Chapter 18

It was Saturday morning and Haine continued to lie on her bed. She had woken up 15 minutes ago and had reread the letter she was clutching onto for the 7th time. Apparently, her punishment had been issued this morning. Later on this evening, she was supposed to wash the dishes in a restaurant about a kilometer away from the mansion from 6pm to 10pm, an hour after her pull out session.

"Well look on the bright side," she thought, "at least it isn't writing lines like what I used to do in school." And changing out of her pajamas, she proceeded to get dressed and headed towards the indoor running track, intending to use the morning to train up her stamina. However along the way, while going down the stairs which led to the underground basement, she heard a woman's voice.

"Where were you last night? I was waiting for you in my room the whole time!"

"I was with Sarah, Amber. I thought I told Vincent to pass the message over to you."

"Well he could have very well lied on your behalf while you went elsewhere and played with other women!"

"Stop it Amber, I am extremely worn out from arguing with you day in and day out. I know your feelings for me but you know clearly as well that I treat you nothing more than a little sister…"

"We've been on bed many times before!" and as Haine stood on the stairs, making sure that she was keeping out of sight, she blushed slightly upon hearing that sentence.

"Amber," and the voice sounded a little impatient now, "You threatened to kill yourself then when I had refused to accept you…" but the voice had suddenly broke off. Haine took a step closer and saw the two near the lift. A young Asian woman with long, curly chestnut coloured hair was wrapping her hands around the man's face and forcing a passionate kiss on him. Meanwhile, the man was however trying his best to pull away from her and when she still refused to break away, the man gave her a slap.

"Get a hold of yourself!" he said.

But Amber simply continued to look at him, and said in a pleading voice, "Please, don't leave me Zachary…"

But Zachary ignored her coldly and continued to walk towards the stairs. Haine, who had nowhere to hide, continued to stand at the stairs as Zachary came closer and stopped abruptly in surprise at the sight of Haine, clearly not expecting someone to have overheard his and Amber's conversation. Placing a hand briefly on Haine's head like he always does, he passed by her and continued on upstairs while Amber, still sobbing away, entered the lift and proceeded to her office.

Trying her best to forget the scene from before, she headed towards the track and to her surprise, she was not the only one there. Several others were there as well, like Stephanie, Claire, Nigel and a few others.

"Good morning Haine!" said Claire.

"I thought I would be the only one here," said Haine, "but guess people here are really hardcore…"

"Speak for yourself," answered Stephanie, and while jogging together, Haine took the chance to question, "Hey, what kind of person is Amber Lockhart? The company's secretary I mean…"

"Amber eh," said Stephanie, and she continued, "All I know is that she always sticks to Zachary wherever she goes, the really clingy kind. I am surprised Zachary hasn't dumped her yet since if I were the guy I would be really annoyed don't you think?"

"Maybe you wish for them to break up, so that you will have a chance at him?" said Claire slyly.

And while flushing slightly, Stephanie retorted, "Speak for yourself! You were blushing at him just last night!"

"Well he is really kind of good looking," admitted Claire, "And he is really nice and friendly too, unlike the coach who always has this cold vibe around him."

Wanting to find out more, Haine continued to ask, "So how is Amber's personality like? Is she nice?"

"She is ok I guess," replied Claire, "Except that she may be overly emotional at times and exaggerate over the slightest of things. Although besides that, her personality can be as venomous as her powers at times, like being really manipulative and doing anything to achieve her goals and all…"

"What do you mean when you said that her personality can be as venomous as her powers?" asked Haine.

"She can secrete a form of lethal poison from her nails you see, that's why she is constantly wearing her pair of leather brown gloves," answered Stephanie.

After about half an hour of slow jogging, the three of them took a sip of water and sat down on the benches. Then, suddenly recalling that Zachary had mentioned on the plane that Rufus had another son besides Vincent, Haine asked, "Hey where is Sebastian? Rufus's other son I mean. I haven't seen him around before," which was entirely true; she had not met him even once ever since she had set foot at this mansion.

"That's because he isn't around," said Stephanie, "He is constantly overseas and placed in charge of foreign affairs. Rumour has it that he hates Rufus, for neglecting his wife and his 2 sons back then, so he chooses stay out of the mansion as much as possible."

And as Stephanie said so, the picture on Rufus's desk flashed in Haine's mind and she continued to say, "His wife sure is pretty, I wonder why Rufus will end up neglecting his whole family…"

"Because a slut seduced him and intoxicated his mind…" and Haine turned around, feeling startled; it was Vincent Robinson. "And if you guys are done with your warm up then go, the track maintenance team is here." Knowing it best not to argue, Haine, along with everyone else, grabbed their things and left the place without delay.

And as Haine went to get some breakfast along with Stephanie and Claire, she suddenly remembered that she had office duties on weekends. She stared at the clock on the wall; it starts in about 10 minutes time…

"Oh no," said Haine suddenly while Stephanie and Claire turned over at her, "I've got office duties today from 10am to 2pm. Sorry guys I've got to go…" and while saying that, she left and sprinted towards her designated location.

"Just two more minutes left," she told herself as she came out of the lift and arrived at the 3rd floor. The paper had directed her to the office on the far right end of the corridor. Then, out of breath and trying her best to look attentive on her first day at work, she knocked on the door a few times. A voice said, "Please come in." Haine entered the office and to her slight surprise, it was Zachary's office.

"Nice outfit," said Zachary, sounding humoured as Haine entered into his office and settled down onto another desk near him. She looked down at herself and felt thoroughly embarrassed; she was still in her track suit from earlier on.

"I'm sorry," and Haine bowed her head in apology, "I forgot there were office duties today so I came here directly right after my warm up."

"Just kidding," and to Haine's immense relief, Zachary smiled, "I don't really mind how people dress as long as they do their job decently. Now then," he said as the pointed towards the stack of documents on Haine's desk, "you are going to have to record in ascending order the prices of the various products of the company as well as make a carbon copy of the files in the drawer right under your desk. Anything you are unsure of??"

"No," she replied, feeling slightly amazed at the simplicity of her job. And after doing nothing but sorting out files for the next 4 hours, she felt very lethargic.

"Guess your shift's over now," said Zachary, who was staring at his silver watch, "Since it's your first day at work I'll treat you to lunch, want to have lunch together?"

And Haine gratefully nodded; she was starving from the lack of breakfast.

"Santa Maria del Sur", said Haine as they both arrived outside a steakhouse restaurant, "The name sounds kind of familiar…"

"It's the place you are going to be washing dishes in later on," replied Zachary as they both entered the front door, "Rufus and the person in charge here are old friends and since he needed some help with the cleaning, Rufus proposed letting you help out with the job."

"Oh yea, that's right," said Haine.

"Yulia's coming for her punishment here too," added Zachary, which instantly made Haine think of the conversation she and Gerald had last night.

Not wanting to dwell on it any further, she looked at the menu and ordered a whole variety of desserts straight away while Zachary placed an order on a plate of salmon steak.

"Still eating desserts only if you can help it eh," said Zachary.

"You bet I do," said Haine joyfully and while looking through the window and observing the people of London, Zachary suddenly spoke, "About just now, please forget what you saw," and Haine looked around at Zachary, knowing that he was referring to the heated argument he had with Amber earlier on at the basement.

"Don't worry," replied Haine, "I promise not to tell anyone." And eager to change the topic, Haine asked, "I heard from Stephanie that Rufus had neglected his family at some point in time, is that really the case?"

"I am not too sure about the details myself," said Zachary, "Vincent doesn't mention it very often. But according to him, he did say that Rufus's unfaithfulness to his wife had resulted in her early death. Other than that, I hadn't question Vincent anything else regarding that matter."

And shortly after, the food was served and overwhelmed by her hunger, Haine set all her questions aside and started to eat. After the table was finally cleared, they started to head towards the mansion and departed at the fountain, with Zachary heading off to his office while Haine started walking towards the special abilities combat room.

The room was almost identical to the usual combat room, except that the instructor was different. He was a muscular, black man in his thirties who bore many battle scars on both his face and body. It was basically the same as the usual combat lessons, except that she was allowed to use her powers at will and disarm her instructor. After many unsuccessful attempts at disarming him, Haine was exhausted.

"That's it for today," he said, "Same time, same place, every Saturday and Sunday."

Nodding towards the instructor, Haine ran back to her room, changed out of her sweaty attire and proceeded to Santa Maria del Sur for the second time of the day, but this time to do the dishes instead.

After travelling a kilometer from the mansion, she had finally arrived at its doorstep.

"Your friend is here just 5 minutes ago," a guy with a thick moustache and beard smiled as Haine stepped in. "Please change into these," and he handed an apron and a pair of gloves over to Haine.

Putting on her apron and gloves as fast as she could, she entered the kitchen and saw Yulia wearing the same apron and rubber gloves and scrubbing some plates and cutlery. Haine followed her example and started work at once, while Yulia seemed to have not shown any sign of Haine entering the place, ignoring her existence entirely.

20 minutes had passed and neither seemed to have shown any sign that they are standing right beside each other. Unable to bear the silence any longer and feeling that she might as well make the first move, Haine suddenly said, "I am sorry about yesterday," and Yulia's face twitched slightly, but otherwise still seemed focused on washing the greasy plates, "I didn't want to hurt you, just to stop you from injuring Monica any further. But I understand if you bear a grudge against me now, so it's ok if you don't feel like talking to me anytime soon. I just hope that your injuries are fine now…" and Haine, referring more to her past psychological damage than the wounds she had given her from the fight, started to head outside to collect more plates.

"I didn't mean to hurt your friend," said Yulia unexpectedly, and Haine stopped, turning around at her. "I just wanted to test you, and find out what you are truly capable of. So I tried to force you into fighting me by pushing your friend to her limits. But Gerald lectured me last night though, about me being reckless like always. I guess I do owe you an apology as well, I am sorry."

And for the first time since Haine had met Yulia, Yulia had surprisingly made a small genuine smile at her.

"She's actually very pretty when she smiles," Haine couldn't help but think as she looked at Yulia. Abruptly, the guy with the beard and moustache came in and called, "Done with the dishes yet young ladies? Peak hour is about to approach soon so get a move on please." and the two started working at once.

"Hey your face is dirty…"

"Where?"

And Yulia, while washing a cup, splashed some water over at Haine's face.

"Why you…" responded Haine, looking slightly annoyed and proceeded to splash some water over at Yulia.

And amidst the sounds of splashing water and laughter, a voice had suddenly erupted outside, "When I say I haven't got any money that means I haven't! Now stop asking me to pay up unless you want to end up in a hospital!"

The two went outside of the kitchen at once, curious to find out what was going on. There, a balding overweight man in his early forties whom was wearing a white T-shirt stained with black pepper gravy dripping down its front and wearing a bulky pair of long grey pants was standing over the bearded man from earlier on. He looked extremely unpleasant.

And just as he was about to walk out of the door, Yulia sped to his front and blocked the entrance.

"Yo washing lady, anything I can help you with?" the man said sardonically.

Without warning, Yulia kicked the man in the groin. While he kneeled over in pain, Yulia held him up and pinned him roughly to the table. Proceeding to place his hand over his head, she plunged a fork straight into his hand, causing the man to yell out in pain and many people around clasped their hands over their mouths in shock.

Well aware of Yulia's violent nature, Haine held out her hand and prevented the man with the moustache from interfering for fear that he may get hurt and told him, "Don't worry, if things get too ugly I will stop her."

"Decided on paying up yet?" asked Yulia in a sadistic tone.

"I will so just let me go! Please!" replied the man as he took out a stack of notes from his pocket and dropped it onto the floor did Yulia finally release him as he stumbled out of the restaurant while grabbing tightly onto his bleeding hand.

"Oh my God what has Rufus been teaching you guys?" asked the bearded man who shook his head at once, sounding bemused.

And at once, Haine and Yulia started laughing in spite of themselves. After having their dinner at the restaurant, whereby Yulia ate a plate of chicken carbonara while Haine whom as usual ordered only desserts for dinner, startling Yulia, the two of them did a few more rounds of dishes before finally it was 10pm, the time for their shift to end.

"You ladies have been a great help today," the bearded man said, "And don't worry I will inform Rufus that you two have fulfilled your tasks."

As the two of them bowed slightly at him and went through the door, the man called out, "Be careful on your way home kids, though I doubt anyone will dare offend you, particularly the one over there," he said as he looked towards Yulia.

While the two started to walk towards the mansion, their laughter could be heard throughout the streets and did not cease until finally, feeling thoroughly exhausted, both of them had returned back to their respective rooms and slept through a dreamless night and all the way till the next morning...


	19. The promotion test

Chapter 19

After the dish washing incident, Yulia had become visibly friendlier with Haine and her friends. For once, during map plotting sessions, Yulia became more tolerant and accommodative towards everyone in the group, including Claire and shocking everyone with her sudden change in behaviour. During combat sessions on the other hand, Yulia had actually bothered to give tips and advice towards the people whom she battled with. Eventually, she not only hung out with Gerald, but with Haine, Claire, Stephanie, Monica and many others as well during lunch breaks. Although she does happen to be a little bit too bad tempered at times, but with constant reminders from the people around her, her attitude towards everyone had become warmer and more approachable, which was undoubtedly a sharp contrast to her former self. And before they knew it, the promotion tests to the main branch were just around the corner.

"I hope it's an easy one this year," said Monica.

"You mean they change it every year?" asked Haine.

"It was more of the practical stuff rather than the theory last year," answered Yulia, and noticing that Haine had a worried expression on her face, she placed a hand over Haine's shoulder and said, "Don't worry if it's you it will be fine. You aren't a half bad fighter after all and the theoretical questions are really typical and standard," and she smiled.

"Let's hope so," said Haine.

Just a week before the tests, Haine, Yulia, Monica, Stephanie and Claire had their noses in their books wherever they went, desperately overloading their brains with information and making copious notes along the way. And at last, the day of the tests came.

Everyone was led into an air-conditioned room filled with tables and chairs by Vincent, who told the whole group after each and every one of them took a seat, "After discussion with Rufus, this year's test will be based on a more practical approach instead of a theoretical one," and at the far corner of the room, someone had unmistakably burst out, "Oh shit!". Clearing his throat, Vincent continued, "However that does not mean that all of you are excused from being tested on your understanding of certain aspects which we have mentioned before during the past week. And that's why we are here today. Laid out in front of you is the test booklet, which contains 20% of your scores. You will have one hour to do it and after this, you will change location to the physical training examination room, whereby the assessors are Zachary Taylor, Amber Lockhart and of course, Rufus Robinson himself. Now, we will start the test in a minute's time."

When one minute had finally passed by, everyone picked up their pens and started scribbling away.

"'Which point on the map is likely to be a sniper's hiding area?'" said Haine silently to herself as she looked at the map on the bottom left of the page and placing a label on one of the buildings, she proceeded to the next question, which said, "Under what circumstances should one use a knife for offense instead of a gun?" and on the blank line, Haine wrote the words, "When one is engaged in close combat". Many minutes passed by and nothing but the sounds of pens which were scratching against the papers could be heard. Finally, one hour was up and after collecting the scripts, Vincent led the junior division to the practical examination room. Along the way, everyone was extremely quiet, undoubtedly thinking what the next test will be like. At last, they arrived.

It was an open stadium, with Zachary, Amber and Rufus sitting next to one another at the side on the top most rows. In the middle of the stadium was a huge empty space with an array of weapons hung on the bottom left corner of the area. Vincent then signaled for the group to take a seat, while Rufus stood up and said, "One name will be called each time and the person will be required to come forth and engage in battle with a member from our main branch, who will be emerging from the door over there," and as he said so, he pointed towards a wooden door at the furthest end of the stadium, and continued, "For people who can see the light in the junior division however, mainly Yulia and Haine, you will fight with a very special someone instead. You will be allowed to use your powers at will and it will be entirely of your own preference whether to choose a weapon from that assortment at the left corner over there or not. Do be warned that you should not ever hold back because your opponents will most definitely not do so. And now," Rufus picked up a piece of paper and read loudly, "Will Monica please come forth please."

Monica stepped forward, looking extremely pale and trembling violently. "Please let it be an easy one," she thought as she picked out an axe and gripped onto it tightly, staring at the door. When it had opened, everyone's attention was on the man who had just walked into the open area. He was holding onto a claymore. Then, without warning, a bell was rang and the man lunged forward. Haine looked over and saw that Amber was the one who had rang the bell.

Forcing herself to focus, Monica dodged to her right before he had strike. However, the man was much quicker in his movements; after Monica had seemingly jumped to his left, he turned around and kicked her in the face, bruising her eye. Ignoring the blood which was trickling down her face, she gathered her attention back at her opponent and made a slashing movement at him. Despite her best efforts, he had seen that coming and as a result, her axe was forced out of her hands when she had attempted to block his attack; the axe flew at least 4 meters away from her. Weaponless, defenseless and injured, she seemed to be in a hopeless situation until…

With all her might, Monica had run without hesitation towards the man and grabbed his claymore firmly with her hands, causing them to bleed profusely and surprising the man in the process. Then, while making sure that the claymore was still in place, Monica leaned forward in an instant and gave a direct head butt towards him. As both foreheads collided, both of them fell back at the same time, leaving both unconscious and immobilized. Then, Amber had ringed the bell a second time and everyone knew that the battle was over; it was a double K.O.

As a team of in-house nurses had come running in, the both of them were placed onto individual stretchers and carried presumably to the infirmary while other battles ensued for the rest of the junior division members.

As others went into the battlefield, most of the battles had ended up as either complete defeats or near stalemates. After which, when the only ones left were Yulia and Haine, Rufus had called, "Yulia, please come forth."

Standing upright and looking somewhat confident, Yulia went forth and picked a long metallic spear from the arsenal of weapons in the stadium, continuing to stare at the door intently. Then, when it finally opened, a man with reddish-brown hair had stepped forth. Unlike other members of the main branch, he did not possess any weapons. He had charming hazel eyes and full lips which gave a rather feminine aura to it. The shape of his nose was tall and long, which was exactly identical to Rufus's. "Your opponent will be Sebastian," said Rufus and as Sebastian looked up briefly at his own father, he gave no sign of acknowledgement and looked back down at Yulia, whom was getting more and more wary of her opponent by the second. At last, the bell had ringed.

With no room for uncertainty, Yulia charged towards Sebastian with her spear.

"He will move to the my right next," she thought as she administered her powers and sure enough, Sebastian turned towards her right side with a swift movement and attempted to kick her weapon out of her hands and failed. Looking indifferent, he then held his leg backwards and attempted to strike again.

"Next he will try to kick some dirt into my eyes," and at that very moment when Yulia tried to evade and counter attack, something weird had happened; she had dropped her weapon and had an expression of utmost shock on her face. Temporarily unable to decide on the next move, she stumbled backwards as large amounts of sand were kicked into her eyes, blinding her momentarily. Making full use of the drop in Yulia's defense, Sebastian then proceeded to punch her stomach and elbowed her in the neck with full force. Coughing up blood from her mouth, Yulia tried her best to continue standing and said, "Just what are you?"

"The same as you," Sebastian replied in the same cold voice as his brother, perhaps even more so, "Someone who can see the light."

"Don't give me that bullshit!" replied Yulia indignantly, "Just a second ago my spear weighed like a ton more than usual!"

Not bothering to reply or answer Yulia's question, Sebastian continued to strike mercilessly and lifting up Yulia's spear which was lying on the ground, he threw it directly at her and Yulia managed to narrowly dodge in time, causing a great gash to appear on her thigh. Blood splattered all over the ground and unable to support her own weight, she kneeled on one leg onto the floor and looked forward at Sebastian, who was coming straight at her…

Then, the bell rang. Sebastian stopped abruptly in his tracks and returned back to his original position, completely uninjured. Yulia, whom was being supported by 2 nurses now, gave a last glance at Sebastian who took no notice of her and stared apathetically towards the other direction. As Yulia walked past Haine, she said, "Be careful, this guy isn't normal." and she headed off to the infirmary. It was now Haine's turn next.

Taking into consideration Yulia's words, she stepped forward and without bothering to pick any of the provided weapons, she faced off with Sebastian.

"Entering the battlefield without holding onto any weapons eh?" he said, "You've got some guts I'll give you that…"

"The same goes for you," said Haine, who felt her dislike for this man increase. Then, the bell had ringed off once again.

Wasting no time, she conjured up two knives and threw it straight at him. Then, conjuring up a lance in her right hand, she lunged forward and attempted catch him off guard. However, the two knives which had been thrown at him merely fell straight into the ground without ever coming close to hitting him. Deciding to change course at the last second, Haine bent and twisted around, managing a kick which contacted only slightly with his waist. Frustrated at her lack of a headstart, she decided to wait for him to come towards her instead before blocking and counter attacking. Then suddenly, the lance in her hands felt as though it weighed a few hundred tons and unable to bear its weight any longer, Haine threw it aside immediately just as Sebastian had travelled to right in front of her…

Trying her best to concentrate on his movements, she continued to dodge and did not conjure up any more weapons in her hands. Then, revelation hit her.

"You can control gravity can't you?" said Haine, and then she added, "Specifically the gravity of nearby metallic objects, that's the reason why Yulia and my weapons weighed a ton when they were used in an attack against you."

Still aiming several kicks at Haine and managing to graze her shoulder only slightly, he replied, "Not bad, you figured it out. But not many knew which material's gravity I manipulated though, how did you ever find out…"

"It's obvious isn't it?" said Haine, "If you were able to control the gravity of everything you would have crushed me with my own weight right now…But I am not made of metal obviously..."

And at that, Haine conjured up both a wooden sword and a metallic dagger simultaneously and threw them straight at Sebastian who jumped backwards into the air instantly.

"It's over," Haine said as she looked at Sebastian.

Using his powers, he caused the dagger which was flying at him to fall onto the ground and jumped to his left, evading the wooden sword.

"Over you say?" said Sebastian slightly mockingly but he had suddenly stopped his movements and looked upwards; there, hanging in mid air, were several metallic spears and daggers conjured up by Haine at the same time as she did with the dagger and wooden sword. Weighing several hundred times of their original weight due to the effects of Sebastian's powers, they accelerated towards Sebastian, causing several deep gashes to appear on his limps and back. He was covered in blood.

Feeling drained out, Haine's legs gave way as she collapsed onto her kneels, unable to get up. Almost certain that Sebastian was unable to move as well, she looked up but to her immense shock, he was still standing steadily and as though he couldn't feel pain at all, he continued to have an indifferent expression on his face. Leaving a trail of blood behind him with every step he took, he picked up one of the lances on the ground and walked towards Haine slowly, who was still on her knees. Then, the bell rang, much too Haine's relief. However, Sebastian seemed to have taken no notice of it as he continued walking towards Haine.

Still exhausted and unable to get up, she remained unguarded and looked on at Sebastian, whom was standing right in front of her right now. With an unconcerned expression on his face, he lifted the lance up while Haine, who had with much effort managed to conjure up a knife in her right hand, braced herself to block his incoming attack until a hand had suddenly grabbed hold of Sebastian's. It was Zachary.

"The fight is over Sebastian," said Zachary, "There's no need to attack her anymore…"

"A battle won't end until one of us is dead now move," said Sebastian who did not turn his gaze away from Haine, who continued to stare back at him, not willing to drop her guard. Sebastian was forming a pool of blood around his legs as the seconds ticked by…

Then without warning, Zachary had released electric shocks through the hand which he was using to hold onto Sebastian's. Not having anticipated Zachary's move, Sebastian finally let go of the lance and fell onto the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Is he…" asked Haine, but before she could finish, Zachary answered, "No he isn't, he's just stunned. I would need to release a much higher voltage of electricity to kill a man like him. Come on let's get your wounds treated."

And while half lifting and half supporting Haine up, who had finally loosened her grip on the dagger, Zachary signaled for the nurses to come and while being carried away on the stretcher away to the infirmary, Haine's last view of the stadium was Vincent and Zachary each placing an arm of Sebastian's on their shoulder and bringing him over to Rufus, who had an indescribably complicated expression on his face as he continued to stare at his unconscious son…


	20. Congratulations!

Chapter 20

It was late afternoon when Haine woke up on her bed, yawning. It had been a day since she had been discharged from the infirmary. Her injuries had not been severe, at least compared to her other friends whom some had sustained far more devastating injuries such as Gerald, who had managed to tie with his opponent but suffered a deep, great slash across his back in return. Yulia who had in fact completely recovered from her wounds had chosen to stay in the hospital with Gerald so as to keep him company, to which he felt absolutely glad to see her do so.

Feeling fully recharged from taking a whole day's worth of nap, she was about to go to the garden for a stroll when something had caught her eye. A white envelope with golden lining on it was lying beneath the stacks of books she had on her desk.

"Must have come in when I was still fast asleep," she thought and as she proceeded to open it, her heart gave a leap of joy. She had been promoted to the main branch!

Starting next week, she was to receive missions on a regular basis. In addition, her office duties had been changed to receiving external phone calls from the company's business partners. In order words, she was now one of the company's receptionists. However, despite receiving the splendid news about her increase in wages, a part of her felt somewhat sad about not being able to carry out her work in Zachary's office like she had done so before. Trying her best to rejoice at her recent promotion, she proceeded to go to the garden in the mansion's front yard for some fresh air.

While walking down the brick pathway in the garden, she took the chance to truly admire the sweet fragrance of the flowers and looked up at the sky. The sun was about to set soon. Sitting on the bench near the pond like she always does, she about to throw a pebble across the surface when suddenly, someone had placed a hand on her head and a familiar voice said behind her, "Congratulations on your promotion."

Haine looked behind and saw Zachary, who took a seat next to her.

"Are your injuries fine now?" he asked.

"Yea the nurse told me to rest more but I had slept for a whole day so I felt that I might as well come down here for a stroll," replied Haine who couldn't help but feel slightly glad at Zachary's display of concern for her. After all, he had been the one who had stepped out to save her when Sebastian continued to attack her even when the fight was over. Then, suddenly remembering Sebastian, she asked, "Is Sebastian alright?"

"Knowing him, he should be somewhere in Vancouver now clinching his next business deal," answered Zachary.

"What?" said Haine, feeling astounded, "You mean with all that blood loss he could still move about?"

"Yea he's been one of the toughest fighters we ever had in the mansion, you would have to shatter all his bones to stop him from moving entirely and I can imagine how he would rather prefer not to stay anywhere near Rufus any longer," replied Zachary.

"Oh, right," said Haine, who had suddenly remembered that Sebastian resented his father for cheating on Elena, which also explained the expression Rufus had back then at the stadium.

"This is for you," said Zachary abruptly as he handed a necklace over to Haine, "as a congratulating gift for your promotion to the main branch."

Feeling awkward and embarrassed, Haine took it slowly into her hands and observed it closely. It was a black, metallic chain with a beautiful baby blue stone attached to it. It was simply gorgeous.

"One of my business clients gave it to me," said Zachary, "But I don't wear necklaces and besides, that necklace seems to be more suited to females so I figured I might as well give it to someone."

"Why not give it to Sarah instead?" asked Haine, still feeling puzzled at the fact that Zachary had suddenly given her a gift.

"That girl has more necklaces than she can currently handle," replied Zachary, and then he added, "What's wrong? You don't like it?"

"No, that's not it," said Haine at once, "It's just that it's beautiful…"

And as she said so, she stared down upon the necklace in keenness and started to blush slightly while the glow from the sunset reflected from the surface of the pond illuminated her silky fair skin and soft features...

Zachary's heart gave a soft thump as he looked over at her. "She's actually pretty cute," Zachary couldn't help but think. However, at that very instance someone had come walking towards the pair and called out, "I've got something to talk to you Zachary…" It was Amber.

"If it's anything unimportant will you please come to my office later," replied Zachary who continued to look away from her.

"It is important," said Amber, then she added, "at least to me it is…"

When Zachary still remained sitting on the bench, Amber suddenly turned her gaze from him to Haine. There was an expression of unquestionable dislike on Amber's face.

"Guess I have to going now," said Haine, not wanting to interrupt the two and as she stood up and turned around, she said, "Thanks for the necklace Zachary," and she smiled slightly before proceeding back inside the mansion. As she headed towards the infirmary to visit her other friends, she had most definitely heard unmistakable shouting from the distance…


	21. Amber's venom

Chapter 21

Amber was feeling extremely angry. Just a moment ago when she had intended to discuss with Zachary their marriage plans, he had lost his temper at her and shunned her off. Wasn't it obvious that she was going to discuss their future plans she had in mind anytime soon? After all, they had been together for quite some time now and had many intimate moments these past years…

"It must be that girl just now," thought Amber as Haine's face appeared in her mind. Just who is she anyway, for Zachary to go out of his way to buy a necklace for her… No matter how much efforts she had put in to bind Zachary to herself, there was always an endless number of women surrounding around him. It was already enough as it is to endure his constant attention to his sister, but for Zachary to actually dismiss off Amber for the sake of this girl who had been here for only a year, it was more than she could bear…

"Care to have some fun lady?" a guy leaning against the alley wall asked her. It was night time and she was on the streets of London, attempting to take a stroll around town to take her mind off her earlier rejection.

"Leave me alone," she said and as the guy proceeded to grab her hand, accidentally slipping her right glove off in the process, Amber immediately pushed him away with her left hand.

"Stay away from me unless you want to die," said Amber, who meant it literally as she kept her exposed nails away from the man.

"Oooo… I love ladies who put up a tough front like you, I want to screw you even more now," said the man as he licked his lips with 2 other guys behind him emerging from the darkness.

Still feeling extremely upset and even more irritated now, Amber was on the verge of her breaking point.

"Come on let's check into the hotel or something," said one of the guys as he placed a hand over her shoulder and attempted to drag her along with him until…

"Argh!" the guy yelled in pain and blood was dripping from Amber's nails; three deep and huge scratch marks had appeared on the man's face.

"Why you bitch!" another had said and attempted to attack her but to no avail; Amber evaded in an instant and slashed his neck with her nails.

"You guys have appeared at the right time," said Amber as she removed her other glove, "I am feeling extremely pissed off right now and you guys will be nice victims for me to vent my anger on…"

And right after saying that, she lunged forward at the last man standing and pierced his chest with her left nails. As he attempted to get back up, he suddenly stopped in horror and looked down at his chest wound; it was turning black and looked as though it was rotting away. He turned towards his two other friends and found that one of the man's face had turned completely black as his body laid extremely limp and still with his eyes and mouth wide opened; he was dead. As blood was flowing non-stop from the other guy's neck, whereby the black area was getting bigger and bigger by the second, the man who was pierced in his chest grabbed Amber's shirt and held her against the wall with great difficulty keeping his legs straight. "What did you do woman…" the man struggled to say.

"I injected poison into you guys with my nails," replied Amber, who sounded uncaring and continued to stare at him with a cold expression on her face, "You can die slowly and miserably. Goodbye…" and while saying that, the man loosened his grip on Amber as he fell to the ground, with all sign of life finally leaving him.

"Bravo…Bravo…As expected from Amber Lockhart," a voice had suddenly said behind Amber as the man continued to clap sarcastically, "You must be the poison user…"

"Who are you?" asked Amber, betraying a hint of fear in her voice; she had rarely been unable to notice the presence of someone standing directly behind her.

"The same as you, someone who is able to see the light as well," he said, "I heard you mumbling to yourself a moment ago and if I were very much mistaken, you had faced rejection in love just a while ago… A third party eh? How distressing..."

"What does it matter to you?" said Amber, who was eyeing the man with caution, "Unless you want to end up like those guys over there I suggest you stay away from me…" and while saying that, she turned to walk away but to her astonishment, her legs were bound by the roots and branches from a nearby plant, preventing her from taking another step.

"I'll keep those nails to myself if I were you," he said as a few more branches extended out from the plant and wrapped around Amber's hands, rendering her completely paralyzed.

"Just what on earth do you want from me?" said Amber, who continued to stare in contempt at the man.

"Relax, I am just here to compromise," he said as he picked up the pair of brown gloves from the floor and fitted them back into Amber's hands, "In just a few days time Rufus Robinson will without a doubt order you guys to raid a facility somewhere in Mexico. All I need from you is the exact time and course of action you guys will take when you infiltrate into the building."

"And what will you give me in return if I do that?" demanded Amber.

"I will use the chance to wipe off the existence of your third party from the face of the Earth, leaving you and your lover to pursue a happily ever after ending… Is that not enough?" asked the man silkily.

Amber had opened her mouth to protest but hesitated at the last moment, and then after considering the man intently, she finally said, "Deal. The girl is Haine Amamiya, do a clean and proper job out of it."

"Haine eh? This will be interesting," the man said with a sadistic grin as he caressed the side of his face which was covered with a deep and ugly scar.

Releasing Amber from the plants, he held out his hand to her and said, "You can call me Sousuke by the way, Sousuke Hiou and I am sure we will be happy working partners from now on."

Glancing upwards at the one and only huge dazzling star in the sky (God's eye), Amber stared back down at Sousuke and smiled; she will have Zachary to herself, no matter what it takes.


	22. Her first mission

Chapter 22

The day that Haine had awaited since last week has finally arrived. Just yesterday, she had joined a few other members of the main branch in a meeting room for a briefing of the upcoming mission. Apparently, they were to destroy many parcels of goods in a certain institution in Mexico. According to Rufus, the goods were classified as highly dangerous drugs which had the ability to alter human brain activity and cause drastic irreversible damage.

Apart from the fact that it was the first mission assigned to Haine since her promotion to the main branch, which was partly responsible for her excitement, another reason was also because she was going to be working with Zachary in the same team. Facing the mirror in the bathroom and combing her hair, she held onto the blue pendant on her necklace hanging around her neck which Zachary had given her and stroked it gently before getting dressed and headed towards the assembly point. When she had arrived, Zachary, Amber, Vincent, Claire, Nigel and three other main branch members were present. Amber was the one who spoke.

"As we had mentioned in yesterday's meeting, we will spread out once we arrive in the building. Zachary and I will head to the rooms on the top most levels, Vincent will be in charge of setting off the explosives once we manage to locate the goods, Claire, Nigel and Paris on the other hand will distract the guards and possible enemies inside while the two of you," she said while looking at the two main branch members standing beside Haine, "You two will be in charge of delivering the helicopter once we are done with eliminating the goods while lastly, Haine," and she looked over at her, "You will infiltrate the dungeons alone just in case there are anymore hidden stocks there, which will be unlikely of course but still we can't afford any slip ups."

"On her own?" said Zachary suddenly, and Amber turned her gaze over to him, "But the dungeons are known for its dangerous and hidden traps, isn't it too risky to…" but before he could finish, Haine had cut in, "It'll be ok I will be careful," and Haine, eager to do her part well for the mission, added, "If anything crops up I promise to inform you at once." And Zachary, noticing the determination in her voice, kept silent while the whole group walked towards the helicopter which had just arrived and boarded it slowly.

Not known to anyone else however, just 3 hours ago, Amber had sent an email over to Sousuke and informed him of the time of their infiltration mission as well as which part of the castle Haine was going to enter. While looking over at Haine, whom was busy talking to Claire and discussing about how equally excited they were to be on their first mission, Amber thought surreptitiously to herself, "I hope she dies in the traps before Sousuke gets her, it will be double the pain when she is left shredded and immobilized in the deep grounds beneath the earth…" Removing her gloves and continuing to stroke her nails while leaning onto Zachary, who seemed to have taken no notice, she thought, "At most if all else fails I will kill her myself and make it seem like an unfortunate accident…" and she continued to stared at Haine, whom was now laughing together with Claire.

Arriving in Mexico, the group had decided to check into a hotel for the night before setting off at dawn the next day. Feeling overly anxious about the mission tomorrow, Haine was unable to sleep and decided that she might as well go to the rooftop of the hotel and admire the scenery of Mexico City. Leaning against the edge, she continued to stare at the beautiful night scenery and tried to imagine how tomorrow will be like, praying that it will all go smoothly.

"You will catch a cold if you stay up here like this," a voice had suddenly said and Haine shook slightly, not realizing that someone had come onto the rooftop as well. Even at night when all the lights had gone off, she could still recognize that it was Zachary.

"Look, you are already trembling in the cold," he said as he placed a jacket over her.

"Thanks," said Haine, then she added, "And for your information I had shook because you had came in without warning and not because I was cold, Zachary!"

Chuckling slightly, Zachary replied, "If you lose your nerve that easily then you are really in the wrong business you know," and then suddenly changing his tone to a more serious one, he said, "Be careful tomorrow, the dungeons are usually the most secretive and inaccessible parts of the facility. One mistake and you will never come back alive again."

"Don't worry I have escaped death once before so a second time will be nothing," answered Haine cheerfully.

"Optimistic aren't we?" said Zachary, "Listen carefully Haine, if you do not return in 30 minutes time from the start of the mission I will be coming to find you in the dungeons so until then, stay alive and return safely…"

"Have a little more faith in me will you," said Haine, "You are the one who had brought me into the mansion after all. Come to think of it it's been quite long hasn't it, close to a year since I came."

"Yea," said Zachary and he continued to stare into the distance, while a gust of wind blew towards the pair on the rooftop, blowing Zachary's hair backwards and making his charming features more pronounced. Haine blushed.

"I think I'll go catch some sleep now, we've got a long day ahead of tomorrow after all," she said in a voice which was faster than normal and while hurriedly returning the jacket to Zachary, she continued to run speedily towards the door, leaving Zachary staring after her and looking slightly confused.

Back in her room, Haine still felt her heart pumping rapidly, which had absolutely nothing to do with feeling out of breath from running. Gripping onto her blue necklace tightly, she thought to herself over and over again, "It can't be… just can't be…"


	23. Expect the unexpected

Chapter 23

The crack of dawn came sooner than expected as the whole group had gathered at the entrance of the building. Ever since last night, Haine had found it difficult to look at Zachary straight in the eye without her face reddening.

"Are you ok?" Nigel had asked while on the way to the location, "You look slightly disorientated but I guess it's normal to be nervous since it's our first mission after all."

"I am fine, thanks Nigel," replied Haine who took a deep breath and tried her best to keep her mind solely on the mission.

Right before she entered the building, Zachary had called out, "Remember what I said last night Haine," and giving a brief silent nod, Haine proceeded to the dungeons while the rest of the group headed towards their respective areas as well.

"So these are the dungeons," thought Haine as she proceeded down the stairs, "it sure is dark in here…"

And sure enough, it took a while for Haine's eyes to get accustomed to the darkness before she could find her way around properly. Bearing in mind any possible traps which could come attacking her at any random point in time, she conjured up two knives in her right hand before proceeding on with extreme caution.

"Doesn't seem to have anything here besides shelves of books and some rusty armor," she said to herself as she walked on, passing a room with several suits of armor which looked extremely ancient and poorly maintained, "Guess Amber worried for nothing..."

And as she pushed open the door and entered the next room, she felt that it looked about the same as the one before, except that it was completely empty apart from a tall book shelf leaning against a side of the wall and that the room itself was much bigger and wider. Then without warning, the torches hanging on the sides of the walls had lit up suddenly, revealing that apart from the book shelf, there were several pots of roses placed in corners of the rooms as well.

"What's going on here?" she thought and continued to look around, searching for any signs of the goods until someone had suddenly come in from the door she had just entered from and placed a hand on her head. She initially thought that it was Zachary, who had perhaps worried and came for her earlier than expected but when she turned around, she instinctively slashed at the man, who evaded at once.

"Not very nice of you…" he said and continued to observe Haine from top to bottom. "How long has it been, 6 years since the last time we met? Honestly, I am very surprised that you actually survived all these while, but guess I overlooked the fact that you may have possessed the gene to see the light as well…"

"Hiou…Sousuke…" said Haine, showing a face of utmost loathing, "Just what are you after? I thought that you were working for the government or is this merely just another one of their schemes for some pathetic reason?"

"I quitted the government you see," Sousuke said, "I realized that there were way too many rules to follow in that puny organization of theirs so I might as well set up one myself instead, one which sells newly invented drugs. Care to be my first test subject?" and as he said so while continuing to smile menacingly, Haine conjured up 3 pikes and threw it straight at him. Then, wasting no time, she held a dagger in her hands and ran at him. However, before she could do so, she dropped her dagger in pain and looked behind; the roses from behind had wrapped around her arm and pierced her with its thorns. As she struggled to break free, other rose plants had wrapped themselves around her other arm as well, causing the keris she had just conjured up to fall uselessly to the ground.

Then, he walked towards her and knelt down right in front of her, their faces within an inch of each other's. Plucking a rose from the pot, he said, "Roses are beautiful aren't they? But deceptive as well… who would've thought that danger lurks beneath its ravishing beauty," and he caressed Haine's face, "pretty much the same as you... Remember the scar you gave me from back then? I've been keeping it ever since then, never once forgetting the one who had carved it deeply into my flesh… And now, I will have the pleasure of violating your body which I failed to have done so before…" And after saying so, he unbuttoned her collar and placed a hand inside her shirt, feeling her left breast.

"Stop it," she said and continued to resist, which accomplished nothing except to make the thorns sink deeper into her flesh, causing her arms to bleed further.

Then, Sousuke proceeded to lean towards her exposed collar bone and after licking it a few times, he bite into it, causing Haine to wince in pain.

She felt nauseous and disgusted, as though a deadly venom was coursing through her whole body, polluting her. Then, she suddenly felt a tear drop coming out of her eye, which made her feel extremely stupid at her vulnerability. Abruptly, Sousuke had removed his hand from her body and said, "Shall we bring the fun up a notch then?" and he lifted up the syringe, causing Haine to shiver slightly and as he proceeded to place it near her neck, Sousuke suddenly stopped.

With an expression of confusion on his face, Sousuke looked down at his hand, which had a thin silver wire wrapped around it. He looked up and saw a tall young man with brown hair standing at the entrance of the room. Zachary had arrived at last.

Wasting no time, Zachary released a bolt of electricity through the wire. However, at exactly the same instant, a pot of rose had attacked Zachary and forced him to release his wire and jump backwards, dodging the attack. Sousuke, instead of being electrocuted to death, had suffered mild electric shocks instead but nevertheless leaving him slightly paralyzed and unable to move at the moment.

"It had been 45 minutes since the start of the mission, I was worried that something may have happened…" said Zachary as he proceeded to free her from the thorns. When the rose plants were finally pulled away from Haine, before she could stop herself, she placed her arms around Zachary and started sobbing uncontrollably, desperate to forget about the repulsive sensation she had from earlier on when she had been almost raped and drugged.

"Relax, it's fine now," said Zachary and as he placed his hand on her head and patted her softly. Sousuke, who had recovered slightly from his electric shock, took hold of the syringe and threw it towards Zachary. Noticing the incoming attack, he shielded Haine away from it, which led to him getting stabbed by the syringe in the back and falling backwards against the book shelf. Then, something extraordinary had happened; the book shelf shifted automatically to the side upon contact and revealed a trap door, which burst opened as both Haine and Zachary dropped through the seemingly endless pit.

"Damn it," cursed Sousuke as he struggled to get up, "I let that little slut escape the second time… But at least the drugs they destroyed were counterfeits, the real goods have already been safely transported to my other base…"

Through the trap door, both Haine and Zachary had landed in a heavily carpeted room at the bottom of the pit which had apparently cushioned the impact of their fall. Ignoring the pain running through her entire body, she got up and saw Zachary, who was still unconscious; he had been holding onto her throughout the whole fall, minimizing the full impact of her landing. Noticing the syringe which had pierced Zachary in his back, she pulled it out immediately and tried to shake him awake.

"Wake up! You have been through worse haven't you, Zachary Taylor," said Haine, who was struggling to find her voice now, "If you die here, what will happen to Sarah? What will happen to Amber? What will happen to me…"

And in the middle of all the shaking, Zachary finally regained consciousness and said, "Calm down, I'm not dead yet so don't cry…" and as he placed a hand on Haine's face, she suddenly realized that tears were trickling down her face.

"I'm not crying," said Haine at once as she forcefully wiped the tears away from her eyes and added, "Some sand just got into my eyes."

While trying her best to shield her embarrassment, Haine asked, "Where do you think we are? Is there any chance of getting out?"

"I am guessing this is the room directly beneath the entrance, if I had remembered the layout of the building correctly," answered Zachary, whom was sitting up now. "If only we could find a window or a small opening in the room we can easily…" but before he had finished his sentence, he suddenly grabbed his chest and started to sweat profusely.

"What's wrong?" asked Haine, who looked worried at the sight of Zachary.

"That son of a bitch," said Zachary, referring to Sousuke. "The drug from earlier on, he injected it into me at the last minute…" and as Haine started to place a hand on Zachary's shoulder, he suddenly pushed her away and yelled out, "Stay away!"

"Why? Just what is going on…" but before she could finish saying her words out, Zachary had pushed her roughly to the floor.

"What are you…" said Haine, whose voice died off as Zachary proceeded to look down at her and while sweating and looking as though he was in excruciating pain, he replied, "Rufus had mentioned during the meeting yesterday that these people possess a certain type of drug which causes vampire-like tendencies in the victims and I think this is most likely the one. Right now my deepest desire is to suck your blood dry and to quench my thirst… Kill me, Haine…" he said and looked as though he was about to give in to his blood lust any moment, "I don't think I can hold back any longer…"

"Don't be stupid! How could I possibly kill you," said Haine, who was trying her best to think of a way out of this hopeless situation.

"Please," said Zachary as sweat from his forehead dripped onto Haine's face while he continued to stare down at her, "Do me this favour…"

But before he could continue any further, Haine placed her hands around Zachary and pulled him towards the right side of her neck; his mouth only a few centimeters away. "If you want my blood just take it," said Haine, with a tone which sounded as though one was merely offering a cup cake to another, "So please, don't make that painful expression on your face any longer…"

And finally unable to bear the urge any longer, he bit into her neck while Haine tried her best not to display any signs of pain, knowing that it will deepen Zachary's guilt further. Resisting the temptation to break free, Haine stayed still while Zachary sunk his teeth deeper into her neck and drained out more and more blood. After a minute had gone by, Zachary finally pulled away.

Haine, who sat up as well, looked towards Zachary and asked unsurely, "Are you alright now?" and at that very instant, after giving a nod, Zachary had pulled Haine's arm towards him and hugged her very tightly.

"You are an idiot you know that… What happens if I had actually sucked you dry and killed you by accident…" said Zachary, who sounded much more relaxed than he had a while ago.

"I know you wouldn't," replied Haine, who felt immensely relieved that Zachary was back to normal again, "You are stronger than you think you are Zachary…"

And when Zachary had finally released Haine, the two stood up. However, feeling slightly faint from excessively blood loss, Haine stumbled backwards and almost fell over before Zachary had caught her in time. Lifting her up, he said, "Don't push yourself too much," and the both of them went through the window and appeared right at the building's entrance where Vincent, Amber, Claire, Nigel, Paris were gathered. A helicopter with the other 2 main branch members piloting it had just arrived. At that very moment, Claire and Amber ran towards Zachary and Haine.

"I can walk now, thanks," said Haine as Zachary settled her down onto the ground.

"What happened?" asked Claire concernedly, "Are you alright? Your arms and your neck are bleeding…"

"I am fine, just a little tired," answered Haine, who forced a smile on her face.

"You just went off without saying a word I thought something had happened to you!" said Amber as she faced towards Zachary.

"Some things had cropped up along the way, sorry if I made you worried Amber," replied Zachary, while Amber proceeded to place her hands around him and kissed him passionately.

"Come on let's go to the helicopter," said Haine at once and looked away from Amber and Zachary, trying her best to distract herself away from the pair, "I can't wait to return to the mansion in London…" and right after saying that, while being supported one arm by Claire, the two boarded the helicopter.

Shortly after, Amber had at last let go of Zachary and the two of them started to board the helicopter as well, with Amber keeping her eyes on Haine the whole time, wondering angrily how she could have survived in the dungeons.

"Well not that it matters anyway," she thought as she stared down at the sleeping form of Haine, "I'll have many opportunities to crush her even if it's the last thing I do…"


	24. The meanings of coincidences

Chapter 24

It had been a week since Haine had returned from Mexico City, being almost fully recovered from her injuries. "I wonder if Zachary is ok now," Haine thought as she placed her hand over the bite mark on her neck, which now had a permanent scar on it.

When the group had just returned from the mission, Zachary was immediately brought to the infirmary to be placed under observation. Apparently, the drug reacted differently for everyone so depending on Zachary's body constituents, there may or may not be any side effects or possibilities of relapse from it. Amber had stayed by him the whole time, refusing to leave his bedside even during the night.

Still feeling sluggish, Haine decided to go back to bed when suddenly, someone had knocked on her door. It was Vincent.

"Rufus wants to see members who participated in the previous mission," he said, making an expressionless face as usual.

"Why?" asked Haine, feeling puzzled, "Isn't the mission already over?"

"Something happened," he replied, "Rufus will go into more details down at the meeting room so be there as soon as possible," and right after saying that, as he turned around to leave, Haine called out, "Is Zachary ok?"

Vincent turned around, stared at her for a moment with a weird expression on his face before proceeding to say, "Fortunately it seems that the drug was still in its testing stage, no lasting damage was done."

"Oh, that's great," responded Haine. Feeling immensely relieved and reassured, she was just about to close the door when Vincent had suddenly added, "He had asked the same question about you as well," and Haine looked around straight away, but Vincent had already left.

"I'm glad he's fine," she thought to herself and proceeding to get changed, she started to head to the meeting room. It was somewhat like a lecture theatre, filled with many rows of chairs lined in a 6 by 5 arrangement. In front of the chairs, is a long desk with a projector screen hanging from the ceiling. Rufus was standing next to the desk.

"I'm glad all of you could make it in such short notice," said Rufus while he looked over at the 9 of them seated on the chairs. "According to my latest network of information, the drugs were still being distributed in Southwest China which shouldn't be the case ever since we are supposed to have destroyed the last of the stocks in Mexico City."

"In other words, we have failed in our last mission," said Zachary while everyone had a confused look on their faces.

"Or rather," said Vincent, "Our infiltration in Mexico City had been led falsely and was a mere red herring for these people."

"Yes and no," replied Rufus, "first of all I do not believe that our information about the goods residing within the building had been false. However, upon arriving at Mexico City a switch had most likely occurred so the parcels of drugs which had been destroyed were probably a diversion."

When no one spoke and continued to be absorbed into his own individual thoughts, Amber had spoken, "It's obvious isn't it? There had been an information leak to those people."

"That's the theory I came up with as well," said Rufus, and he sighed, "though I very much prefer not to suspect a traitor among us." and everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Who was the last one who had returned from the building?" asked Amber suddenly.

"I did," answered Haine, who looked up at Amber, "Well me and Zachary because he went to save me…"

"Was there really any need for Zachary to have gone down there?" questioned Amber again.

"What are you trying to say Amber?" asked Zachary, who had stood up and turned around at her.

"During the time she had stayed down at the dungeons, or so we assume, could it not be possible that she had been at another place at some point in time? I mean she could've gone to somewhere else instead and returned back to the dungeon at the last moments to make it seem as though she was there the whole time, which explains why she took much longer than the rest of us to return…" but before she could finish, Zachary had cut in, "She was attacked by someone," "Or so you think," Amber continued for him, "Could it not be possible that that someone was on her side and that he was merely playing up a show to lure you into the dungeons as well, using the chance to kill you? Perhaps if you had not succeeded in escaping he would have lured the rest of us in as well and kill us off one by one?" But just when Zachary had opened his mouth to protest, Rufus had interrupted, "Enough both of you." And Zachary sat down reluctantly.

"Amber's got a point," said Rufus, to which Zachary immediately said, "Rufus!" "BUT," continued Rufus impatiently, and Zachary kept silent, "Innocent until proven guilty, so please do not point any accusations at anyone before you have solid evidence of what he or she had done." And with that, everyone understood that there was no point in arguing on any further.

"For the time being, we will be observing the situation in China for a while before planning our next course of action," said Rufus, and then added, "Vincent, help me contact Sebastian. He should be informed about this as well. He will be a great help in observing the situation abroad…"

"I will," replied Vincent.

"Now then," said Rufus, and everyone looked over at him, "Once I have been updated by my information network, I will send a copy of the necessary points over to each of you. Until then, you are now dismissed." And giving a brief glance over at Haine with a strange expression on his face, Rufus proceeded to leave the room, followed by Amber and then everyone else.

"Think she's got something against you?" asked Claire, who was walking with Haine towards the dining area.

"I have no idea, but ever since the first time I met her she didn't seem to be very fond of me," replied Haine, who had despite her silence throughout the whole meeting earlier on, was in fact extremely disturbed by Amber's remarks.

"Well I believe in you," said Claire, who smiled over at her, to which Haine smiled in return.

"Thank you Claire," said Haine who felt a little more cheerful now. After they had their dinner, Haine started to walk towards the garden in an attempt to keep her mind off things. Walking down the brick pathway as usual, she looked around and saw that Zachary was in the garden as well, standing next to the fountain.

"It's strange to see you here by yourself," said Haine, which made Zachary turn around instantly.

"Just had nothing much to do tonight ever since it's a Sunday," replied Zachary, who then added, "Don't take into heart what Amber said just now, she tends to blow things up. I believe you won't do anything like that…"

And at those words, Haine felt extremely comforted. "Thank you Zachary, for sticking up for me just now," and the two continued to stand next to the fountain, admiring the shiny pearls of water droplets which reflected the glorious moonlight.

However at this very moment, unknown to them was that Amber was standing right behind a tree a few feet away from the fountain, looking at the pair in rage. Storming out of the mansion, she proceeded to the streets of London when suddenly, someone had emerged from behind the wall and grabbed her, saying, "I've been waiting for you," and he continued to pull her along, all the way to a café downtown did he finally stop.

"Coffee?" he asked Amber, who had an extremely irritated look on her face.

"Never mind that now Sousuke," she replied, "You promised that you would do a clean and proper job of getting rid of her but she doesn't seem like she's going to fall dead anytime soon…"

"Your boyfriend interfered as you very well know," Sousuke said in slight indignation.

"Fine, so Zachary did act out of my expectations. I didn't think that he would go that far for that girl…" and at that, Amber clenched her fist tightly.

"I do keep my promises, since it's a fact that thanks to you I have managed to export my goods safely to China so in return I will help you to the very end," said Sousuke, "I have figured out a way to get rid of her, without killing her of course, which will arouse suspicion now that Rufus Robinson suspects a traitor among the ranks."

"How?" asked Amber curiously.

"I did a background check on that girl and guess what?" said Sousuke, "She's adopted."

"So what? I don't care if she's adopted or not, just tell me how do you exactly plan on getting rid of her?" asked Amber, sounding impatient now.

"Oh you will care," said Sousuke, "when you find out who her real mother actually is…"

"Who?" said Amber.

"Hazuki Kamiya," replied Sousuke calmly, who smiled at the expression of shock on Amber's face.

"You mean that she is actually the daughter of that woman?" asked Amber, who looks obviously astonished now.

"Precisely, what are the chances that she will continue to stay in the mansion if everyone finds out who she actually is?" said Sousuke, "Many would want her gotten rid of, I am of course specifically referring to Vincent and Sebastian. Poor boys… Their mother was bedridden for a week and even in her dying moments his husband had gone to find that woman instead of staying by her bedside. Tragic indeed…"

"Rufus always described Hazuki Kamiya as the most beautiful and strongest of women he had ever seen... I had expected her to be of a higher caliber but to think that she is the mother of that girl… Should have known, both mother and daughter are disgustingly alike, stealing men away from other women," said Amber, and then suddenly added, "But It doesn't add up… You mean that Hazuki Kamiya had slept with another man right after and bore Haine?"

"No," Sousuke replied simply, "Her father is indeed Rufus, Rufus Robinson."

"That's impossible," said Amber at once, "Knowing Rufus he will never abandon his own child if he had known that she was pregnant."

"Which just shows how two faced some people can be," answered Sousuke, who took a sip from his coffee, "Constantly acting as though he is an ally of justice with his pacifist views but to abandon both the woman and their child once he is through with her, a perfect living example of a hypocrite don't you think?"

"Regardless," said Amber, "Even if the truth about her is revealed, that doesn't mean that Zachary won't go and find her anymore, even if she is no longer staying in the mansion as long as she is still alive there is always a chance that Zachary will never leave her side…"

"Not if you can help it," said Sousuke in a menacing tone, "Just have everyone turn against her and she won't dare show her face ever again."

"I tried that at the meeting just now," said Amber, "I tried to push all the blame to her but Zachary still stood up for her…"

"Trust me the chance will come very soon," answered Sousuke, "But for now I have got to be going to China, those guys are useless without me after all… I will contact you as soon as the opportunity arrives," and at that, he stood up, paid for the coffee and left, leaving Amber in the café who had finally taken a sip from her own cup of coffee, never before savouring how fragrant it was…


	25. Confession

Chapter 25

"Zachary…Wake up you sleepy head!"

Zachary opened his eyes slowly and saw a young girl with brown hair standing in front of him.

"Sleeping in the office as usual?" she said with a smile.

"Get lost Sarah I have work to do," replied Zachary, who looked down at his documents and carried on with sorting them out.

"Why that's nice… I was thinking being the workaholic as you are that you probably hadn't had lunch yet so I brought you this," said Sarah as she held out a lunch box, "But since you don't seem to appreciate my efforts I guess I will just throw it away then…" and as she proceeded to walk towards the door, Zachary had suddenly called out, "I was just kidding!" and Sarah turned around immediately and smiled.

"Knew you'll say that," said Sarah as she sat by the table and watched Zachary eat.

"Not bad," Zachary said as he chewed onto a piece of chicken, "At least it isn't as charred as last time…"

"Hey!" said Sarah who was pouting, and Zachary chuckled.

"You are still the same as ever, even after our parents had died you have never failed to try your best at everything. Whether it was school, sewing or cooking, you never gave up on anything you did," said Zachary.

"That's because I have never really done my part as a family member," said Sarah, who suddenly had a solemn expression on her face, "Whether it was at home whereby I couldn't help to share the family's burden of repaying daddy's debts because I was too young to work then or even on that day when our house was attacked…all I could do was hide and leave you to protect me…"

"Don't be silly," said Zachary as he patted Sarah on her head, "I am your older brother, and you are my one and only younger sister. Of course I will protect you, no matter what happens…" and Sarah smiled.

"Ok I've got to get going now! My friends from school are waiting for me outside the gates, see you later older brother!" said Sarah and she left the office, leaving Zachary to finish the rest of his lunch.

In the meantime, at Rufus's office, Vincent was helping him out with his research materials.

"Sorry for asking you to help out today Vincent," said Rufus, "You must be busy on normal days training the new batch of junior division as it is."

"It's ok," replied Vincent, who continued to filter through the files on his computer, "If it's only for a day Michael can handle the training on his own. More importantly, you are thinking of her again aren't you? That woman, Hazuki Kamiya… You hardly ever ask for assistance in work unless you are distracted in your own thoughts…"

"I'm sorry Vincent, I know you must still be feeling extremely upset about Elena's death," and as Rufus said so, he looked over at Elena's photo on his desk.

"I've accepted it and moved on… Back then I understood that it must have been difficult for you to break up with Hazuki as well, but you still did it in the end, for the sake of Sebastian and me," said Vincent.

"Sebastian doesn't seem to be accepting of me anytime soon however," said Rufus, who was frowning slightly, "But I understand if he doesn't ever want to acknowledge me as his father… After all, that boy has always been closest to Elena…"

"He will someday," said Vincent as he selected a few files in his folder and clicked the print button.

"Let's just hope so," replied Rufus, who then suddenly added, "About Haine, do you realize that she resembles Hazuki a lot at times? The first time Zachary had brought her into my office it wasn't only her face but her attitude and the strength of her spirit as well… It was so similar to Hazuki…"

"Really? I have forgotten how that woman had looked like after so many years," answered Vincent, and then changing the topic, he had suddenly asked, "Do you think that it's as Amber had said, that Haine was the one who had sold us out?"

"I personally do not know," said Rufus honestly, "But my instinct tells me that there is more to it than meets the eye. Amber does let her emotions get the better of her sometimes…"

"Speaking of Amber, she looks rather disturbed these days…" said Vincent.

"Knowing her it's most likely got to do with Zachary," replied Rufus.

"Let's just hope that it will be like always, after an all out argument between the two and everything will be fine again," said Vincent as he proceeded to the printer and collected the stack of documents.

At the administrative block, Haine was doing her job as a receptionist fairly well, having adapted to her duties.

"Good afternoon madam, may I help you please?"

"Good afternoon, may I know when product WS456 will be ready?"

"In about 2-3 days time, madam. I believe the deadline is in 4 days time?"

"Yes, indeed. I was just calling up to confirm its status at the moment. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome and have a nice day."

And Haine placed the phone back down. Working in an internationally renowned electronics company, it was necessary to entertain many phone calls throughout the day. Most customers normally asked about the status of their deliveries as well as the company products which are most suited for their custom uses. However on some rare occasions, another group of people cleverly disguised as typical customers calls and requests to be directed to Rufus personally, most probably to discuss about the latest assassination mission or some other form of business in the underworld. By late evening, one such phone call had occurred.

"Good evening sir, may I help you please?"

"This is Noctis Clayworth speaking. May I speak to Mr Rufus Robinson please?"

"I'm sorry, but if it's any company related…"

"It's about the incident at Mexico City."

"Oh I see, I am sorry. I will redirect you to Mr Robinson's line straight away." And after directing the call to Rufus's office phone, Haine was exhausted and finally duty free for the day.

"I wonder if Zachary has knocked off yet," thought Haine and just as she was about to head towards the lift, someone from behind had called out, "Haine, can you pass this to Zachary? I forgot to do so just a while ago and I've got other things to attend to now…"

"Sure thing Benjamin," replied Haine who took the file into her hands as Benjamin walked away.

Proceeding to Zachary's office, she was just about to knock on the door when she heard some voices from inside the room.

"Zachary?" she called, but nobody replied. Opening the door slightly, she saw that Zachary was fast asleep on his desk.

Opening the door a little wider, she walked in and closed the door back as lightly as she could, hoping to leave the file quietly on his desk and then go. However, just as she was about to do so, she heard voices again.

"Don't hurt mom and dad, take me instead… Leave them alone…" Haine looked around and much to her surprise, it was Zachary talking in his sleep.

"Zachary?" said Haine as she settled the file onto the table and started to tap him lightly on his shoulder. He still did not open his eyes.

"Leave my sister alone, don't hurt Sarah… I will do anything so stop it… Please stop stabbing my mom…" he said desperately while his forehead is beginning to sweat profusely.

"Zachary! ZACHARY!" Haine had continued to shout into his ear. After a few seconds had passed, he had finally begun to open his eyes.

Waking up with a start, Zachary sat up immediately and looked around at Haine. He looked very pale.

"Are you okay?"Haine asked concernedly as she leaned towards him and took out a handkerchief from her pocket while dabbing it on Zachary's forehead with her right hand, "You were talking in your sleep…"

But at that instant, Zachary had gripped onto Haine's right hand tightly and pulled her against his chest and said, "I thought I was back to that night, when my parents were killed. I'm so glad I'm here right now, that you're here…" and as he said so, he started to move towards Haine while holding onto her face gently with both his hands, causing Haine to blush at the intensity of his gaze. As he continued to lean forward, her face getting closer and closer to his, their lips getting closer and closer to each other's, Zachary had suddenly paused, and then leaned in beside her face to peck her on her left cheek.

"I am sorry for scaring you just now," he said and while placing a hand on Haine's head, he then turned to walk away and leave the office.

"What was all that about," Haine thought as she placed her hand on the spot where Zachary had kissed her. It continued to feel warmer than the rest of her face.

Meanwhile however, Zachary was at the balcony rooftop of the mansion and thought to himself, "How could I do that all of a sudden? I'm such an idiot…" and as he thought so, a scene of when he had kissed Haine on her cheek just now appeared in his mind, "She must be feeling upset by what I've done earlier on, I should apologize at once…" While saying so, he was just about to turn back when to his slight amazement, Haine had come looking for him as well.

"Haine," said Zachary as he took a step forward, "I'm…" But before he could say anything, Haine had spoken at that very moment, "Don't apologize," which caused Zachary to be slightly taken aback.

"What I want to hear from you is not an apology," Haine continued to say, "What I really want to know is what that kiss had meant just now…" and suddenly comprehending what she had been saying, Haine flushed in embarrassment. In spite of this however, she gathered up her courage and walked boldly towards Zachary until they were both standing directly right in front of each other. While looking straight into Zachary's eyes, she took a deep breath and said, "I like you… Ever since that time in Sydney… Even till today I have always felt a strong attraction towards you. But when I knew that Amber and you were together, I was scared, I didn't know what to do… Whenever I had saw the both of you kiss, a part of me had always felt somewhat uncomfortable… Sometimes even I don't get it myself but I just…I…" and not able to continue on any further, Haine felt her voice stuck in her throat as she continued to stare at Zachary in the eyes.

"I'm...I'm just so sorry for saying stupid things right now!" Haine had burst out before she knew what she was doing and as she started to head towards the stairs and ran as fast as she could, wanting to lock herself in her room and never come out, Zachary had wrapped his arms around her and prevented her from leaving.

"Why are you leaving when you had just confessed?" asked Zachary quietly as he continued to take in the scent of her hair, never once realizing how soft and lovely it was.

"Because I know that Amber wouldn't be happy about it," replied Haine, who remained still and continued to lean against Zachary.

"Then what about my feelings then?" Zachary continued to ask Haine, "Don't you want to know about my true feelings towards you as well?"

"This was it, this was the moment," thought Haine and she closed her eyes, not daring to hear what's coming. But what had happened next was most definitely not within her expectations; Zachary had held her face up by the chin and placed his lips against hers, leaving her momentarily stunned.

"Za…Zachary…" but her voice immediately died off as he placed his tongue into her mouth, exploring every inch of it as Haine proceeded to place an arm gently on Zachary's face. Feeling the sensation of their tongues together, Zachary continued to deepen the kiss, which sent shivers of pleasure down Haine's spine. Then after what had seemed like an eternity, the two had pulled away from each other at last.

"I'll take care of you, so stay with me, Haine…" said Zachary as he patted Haine on her head. Haine, who was placing her arms around Zachary, said nothing but continued to be embraced by the warmth of his body…


	26. Shopping between 2 girls

Chapter 26

"I knew that I had seen this from somewhere before," said Zachary as he stared down at the handkerchief. Haine had handed it over to him while he was sweating a lot from his nightmare last night.

"It's the one you gave me right outside the hospital at Sydney," answered Haine, whom was sitting in Zachary's office at the moment, "I've been keeping it with me ever since then, you can have it back now though…"

"Just keep it with you," he said, and then added, "By the way don't you have any work today?"

"I'm on night shift today," said Haine cheerfully and as she leaned towards Zachary's desk and took the handkerchief back into her hands, Zachary had snuck a kiss on her cheek, which was unfortunately spotted by Sarah who had entered the room right at that very instant.

"I can't believe it!" screamed Sarah as she stared at the sight of both of them, causing Zachary and Haine to break away immediately. "Zachary's actually gotten himself a real girlfriend!"

"Cut it out Sarah," said Zachary at once and much to Haine's surprise, she saw for the first time that Zachary had gone slightly red.

Sarah laughed and continued to say, "I know that my brother will fall for you sooner or later," and she turned her gaze over at Haine, "you seem to be way better than Amber by far!"

Before she could say anything else however, Zachary had interrupted, "If you've got no business here then leave, this is an office for your information."

"Speak for yourself," said Sarah who looked over at Haine. "I was trying to get you to accompany me to buy some dresses but looking at you right now," and she stared at the stack of files on Zachary's desk, "Seems like you will be staying in the office all day long again as usual…"

"I can go with you if you like," said Haine suddenly, "My shift is at night after all…"

"Really?" replied Sarah, who beamed over at Haine, "That's excellent!"

"Keep an eye on her," said Zachary over to Haine as the two headed towards the door, "and make sure she stays out of trouble."

"Don't worry I will treat Haine real nice! After all she's my older brother's darling girlfriend now," said Sarah who gave a wink over to Zachary. And then the two left the room.

"So how did you do it?" Sarah asked Haine as they entered a fashion shop. "I mean how did you make my brother confess to you?" added Sarah as she noticed Haine's puzzled look, "He is a real klutz most of the time so I wouldn't think that he would actually have the guts to admit to the girl he likes. He must like you a lot to have taken the initiative…"

"Well actually," said Haine, "I was the one who had confessed…" and at that, she turned scarlet.

"That's amazing!" burst out Sarah before could stop herself, "I didn't think that any woman would dare do that with that cow hanging around him…"

"Cow?" asked Haine.

"I mean Amber," answered Sarah, "She sticks around my brother all the time, which makes me feel really sorry for my brother at times. I mean he has told her many times before that he regards her as only a friend but that woman forced herself on him by threatening suicide when my brother had refused her… But I'm glad that my brother has finally found his true love now," and Sarah smiled at Haine, "Take care of my brother will you?"

And before Haine could reply, Sarah had already pushed a purple coloured dress to her and forced her into the changing room. "You'll be my model for the day then!" said Sarah as she closed the dressing room door. When Haine had finally come out, Sarah said, "Not bad, it matches your pale skin. But I think I will pick another though…" and right after saying that, Sarah proceeded to the changing room herself and changed into a brownish-gold dress.

"What do you think?" asked Sarah as Haine had just gotten out of the changing room and changed out of the dress.

"I think it looks really good," answered Haine, "It matches your beautiful brown hair…"

"Guess I'll take it then," answered Sarah merrily.

And as she went towards the counter, she told the cashier, "I'll take the purple and brown one please!"

"But I thought you didn't like the purple one very much," said Haine who looked a little confused.

"That's for you," said Sarah, and while smiling, she added, "For my future sister-in-law!"

As they both walked out of the fashion stall, Sarah had suddenly said, "Will you go with me to the park nearby please?"

"Of course, Sarah," and Haine followed her until Sarah had finally stopped at the side of the river.

"You know, I am in fact very worried about my brother," said Sarah as she continued to stare at the river surface, "I am not someone who can see the light, so someday I will grow old and die of old age just like any other. My brother on the other hand is forced to live on in this world even after I am gone… If I would, I would rather prefer to be able to see the light as well, even if it means I will die once… I would like to stay with my brother to the very end but I know I can't," and at that, Sarah suddenly had a single tear falling from her eye, to which Haine placed her hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry so much Sarah, just treasure what you have at the present," and right after, Sarah immediately placed her arms around Haine and said, "Please take care of my brother for me, even after I am gone Haine."

And Haine, while patting her head, answered, "Don't worry Sarah, I promise to take care of Zachary no matter what happens so cheer up and don't think so much. I'm sure Zachary would want you to have a long and happy life," and at that, Sarah smiled in spite of herself.

"I can see why my brother likes you now," she said as she wiped the tears out of her eyes, "You really are a nice person…"

"Let's go back to the mansion now, we've already been out for 3 hours," answered Haine who was eager to change the topic and hide her embarrassment.

When the two had finally reached the mansion, they parted ways at the fountain with Haine saying, "Thank you for the dress today Sarah, when I get my pay check I will definitely treat you to a buffet," and Sarah laughed as she walked away.

By the time that she had placed the dress in her wardrobe and gone down to the administrative block, it was just about time for her shift to start. Apparently, Amber was there as well.

"Working hard?" Amber asked sweetly as she walked pass Haine.

"I am trying my best to," replied Haine, who felt slightly uncomfortable at the sight of Amber.

"Well enjoy your last few days in the mansion then," Amber said in the same sweet voice as she turned to walk away.

"What do you mean Amber?" asked Haine, sounding slightly alarmed now.

"I meant that in a few days time all of us will be going off to China to chase after the goods there ever since we failed in the last mission," replied Amber, "It's likely we will be staying there and leaving the mansion for quite some time so I merely suggested that you should enjoy the few days in the mansion before you leave for China."

"Oh," said Haine, sounding relieved now, "I see, thanks Amber…" and after that, as Amber started to walk away towards the lift with her back facing Haine, she smiled discreetly to herself while thinking, "Enjoy your last few days in London, Haine… We will never see each other again…"


	27. Close connection

Chapter 27

"During the week we are staying here in Shanghai," said Zachary, "We will be dressed as any other civilians living here and blend in with the crowd. Our main priority on the first 4 days will be to memorize the routine and schedule of the people living around this area," and as he said so, he pointed towards a spot on the map and continued to say, "This is most likely where the drugs are hidden. It is a typical 4 room apartment, the perfect hideout for concealing illegal stocks. No one will suspect this location. On the 5th day we shall proceed onto snatching the goods when least people are around the area. To maintain a low profile only Haine and I shall enter the building while the rest of you will stroll around the area and make sure that no obstructions occur. Any questions?"

When nobody said anything, Zachary proceeded to say in an irritated tone, "Now that the explanation for the mission has been done, can someone tell me what on earth is Sarah doing here?"

"Come on Zachary I'm just here to accompany you guys I promise not to get in the way!" replied Sarah in an innocent tone and then made an angelic face at Zachary.

"This is no walk in the park Sarah, the 9 of us here are on a mission, not a vacation," said Zachary.

"Rufus said I could come!" answered Sarah at once, "He said that since we are suppose to blend in as civilians having another teenage girl around will make the act more convincing!"

"She's right," said Vincent, which caused Zachary to look around at him, "Since we are suppose to act as locals we will be members of a pseudo family for a week. It's important to have members with varied ages among us to make it more believable."

Knowing that there was no room for arguing any further, Zachary finally relented and sighed, which made Sarah cheer in joy. "Come on let's go grab some ice cream Haine!" said Sarah, who was pulling Haine along. "Wait up for the rest of our group Sarah!" called out Haine as she went along with her.

"Don't worry so much Zachary," said Amber who looked around at him, "One more won't make a different. This mission is a simple one after all."

"I hope you are right," replied Zachary, who stared at the pair who was now each holding onto a cone filled with peppermint and cookies and cream ice cream, and then smiled slightly in spite of himself.

"Come on let's check into the chalet now," said Vincent.

The chalet was located nearby a beach and had the sea breeze blowing towards them. It was extremely cozy and comfortable.

"This really feels like a vacation," thought Haine as she placed her belongings in her room. "I wonder who I'll share my room with…" and right after that, Sarah had come in.

"I am switching with you," said Sarah, "You'll be sleeping with my brother instead."

"What are you saying Sarah?" replied Haine who started to run slightly red, "Of course I can't sleep in the same room as…" But before she had finished, Sarah had cut in, "Why not? Both of you are together already aren't you? Isn't it time that you two have done THAT?"

"Is she really only 15 years old?" Haine couldn't help but wonder.

"Come on I'll sleep with Claire instead while you sleep with Zachary!" said Sarah and at that, she had passed Haine's belongings over to her and pushed her out of the room.

Left with no other choice, Haine started to walk towards Zachary's room and knocked on the door twice before entering the room. It was basically the same room which contained two individual beds.

"Sarah switched rooms with me," said Haine while blushing at the sight of Zachary, whom was sitting on a chair.

"She did?" asked Zachary at once, sounding surprised, "She said that she was only going over to your room for a chat… Sorry about that Haine, if you don't feel comfortable about staying in the same room as me then…" but before he could finish his sentence, Haine had said at once, "It's fine, as long as you don't mind I mean…" and at that, Haine immediately placed her things down.

Zachary, who was still slightly surprised at this sudden change of arrangements, continued to stare at Haine as she started to take out a set of clean clothes from her luggage.

"Will you mind if I bathe first?" asked Haine.

"Yea, go ahead," replied Zachary, "I'm fine with anything."

And as Haine headed into the bathroom, Zachary, who had looked quite unconcerned all these while, suddenly couldn't help but think, "Man, this is dangerous… I don't know if I can stop myself now that she is in the same room as me…" As he continued to distract himself with other things such as thinking about the mission, Haine had already come out of the bathroom dressed in T-shirt and shorts.

"I'm done now," said Haine who looked over at Zachary, whom was still sitting on the chair and staring at anywhere else but Haine.

"Alright," replied Zachary who still tried his best to look away from her and entered the bathroom. In the meantime however, Haine, whom was sitting on her bed, was thinking over and over again what Sarah had said ealier on, "Isn't it time that you two have done THAT…"

"I'm so perverted," said Haine to herself, "At a time like this when we are about to start on our mission soon I am actually thinking about things like that… I wonder how Zachary feels though, he is probably all focused on the mission now knowing him…" And right after thinking that, Zachary had come out of the bathroom.

"Still not asleep yet?" asked Zachary as he tried with all his might to keep his voice casual, "Starting tomorrow we've got to familiarize ourselves with the schedule of the local people here after all, it's not good to go without sleep."

"Yea, you're right Zachary, good night," said Haine who proceeded to switch off the lights and lied on her bed while bringing the blanket over her.

"Good night," replied Zachary.

After a few moments of silence, Haine thought with her back faced towards Zachary, "Should I take the initiative instead… I mean Sarah's right, we are old enough after all… No what am I thinking seriously! This is a mission, not a holiday trip… a mission… a mission…"

"This is really awkward," thought Zachary whom was lying on his bed with his eyes open, apparently having trouble sleeping as well, "Being in the same room with her and yet feeling so distant…"

Unable to bear the tension any longer, the both of them had asked each other at the same time, "Are you asleep yet?"

"I guess not then," answered Zachary who laughed slightly.

"Yea," said Haine, who chuckled as well, "I am kind of not used to sleeping with another guy in the same room so I guess it feels kind of strange at the moment."

"It's no good if you start out on a mission feeling all tired," replied Zachary, "If you don't feel comfortable I think it's best if I go to Vincent's…" but before he could stand up and head towards the door, Haine had pulled him by his hand and stopped him from leaving.

"That's not what I meant," said Haine at once, which made Zachary turn around in surprise and Haine flushed visibly even in the dark. "It's just that being in the same room as you makes me feel really happy yet embarrassed at the same time. Though we have hugged and kissed many times before but I really won't mind if we take a step further Zachary…"

"What am I saying?" thought Haine to herself, "This is so embarrassing…" but before she could look up at Zachary's response to her words, Zachary was already right in front of her and with one hand on her cheek, he placed his lips against hers. Caught up in the moment, Haine suppressed her shock and returned the kiss back passionately, placing both her arms around Zachary's neck.

As the pair sat on the bed, Zachary, whom was still locking her lips with his, pushed her gently towards the bed until he was right on top of her did he start to pull away from the kiss. It was only at that instant that the two was able to see each other so close up, face to face and admiring each other's charming features. Haine turned even redder at the intensity of Zachary's gaze up close. Then, Zachary had started to lean towards the side of her neck and kissed it gently, causing Haine to twitch. As Zachary looked up at her again, he had realized that she was laughing slightly. Taken aback, he asked her, "What's the matter?"

"No, nothing," replied Haine, whom was still giggling, "It's just that back then when that guy, Sousuke Hiou had touched me it made my body go completely limp and still. I was feeling extremely terrified and my body had gone all cold. But somehow now," and she looked up at Zachary, "The feeling is completely opposite when I'm with you. It feels warm and nice somehow…"

"Don't compare me to some pervert out there," said Zachary, whom was smiling slightly despite himself while ruffling his hair, "I think we should stop here for tonight now…"

"Why?" asked Haine immediately, and she suddenly felt even more embarrassed while realizing that she had just sounded clearly disappointed.

"Because we both need to get some rest before the mission," replied Zachary simply who had already gone back to his own bed. And noticing Haine's slightly dissatisfied expression, he added, "When we go back to the mansion, we will continue with tonight…"

"That's a promise," said Haine, and making sure that she had seen Zachary's nod, she fell back onto her own bed and forced herself to sleep, wanting the mission to end as soon as possible…


	28. The traitor strikes

Chapter 28

"From the past 4 days, we have gathered that the most deserted time of the day of the vicinity of that building is in the afternoon at half past 3, which is in an hour's time from now. There are at most 2 men who are guarding the goods at one time in that apartment. Haine and Zachary will be more than enough in taking them out before seizing the goods and delivering them into our hands. Ready everyone?" asked Vincent as he looked around at the others. Everyone was all geared up and prepared to go.

As Zachary looked around at Sarah, Sarah had spoken first, "I promise to stay here and be a good girl," and after the siblings had stared at each other for a few seconds, she added, "So in return please return safely…"

"Don't worry," and Zachary walked towards Sarah and placed a hand on her head, "I'll return as soon as we have obtained the goods." and after giving a brief smile to his sister, he and the rest of the team had turned towards the door and left.

When they have arrived at the building, Zachary and Haine were the first ones who got out of the car. "Ready?" asked Zachary as they prepared to raid the house. Haine gave a brief nod and the two kicked the door open. To their extreme surprise, there was no one in the room at all and on top of that, the parcels were at the same spot as they have last checked.

"Could it be a trap?" asked Haine as she continued to stare at the parcels, wondering if a bomb could be hidden inside of it.

"Only one way to find out…" said Zachary as he approached the boxes and opened them slightly. After a few seconds, he spoke, "It's it alright. The description fits so it shouldn't be a counterfeit like last time." And as the two sealed the boxes back and brought them downstairs where the rest of the group were surveying the area, Amber had come walking towards them first.

"How did it go?" asked Amber.

"There was no one there," said Haine at once, "And Zachary confirmed that the drugs weren't fake either. Somehow things are going way too smoothly…"

"Yea," said Zachary, who looked puzzled as well, "No guards, no security, it's as though they are willingly handling their goods over to us…"

"Both of you are probably worrying too much," answered Amber, "In any case since the mission is done now let's go back to the chalet. Sarah must be worried about you Zachary…"

And as the group returned, Sarah ran towards them and asked eagerly, "How did it go? Wait don't tell me that you guys failed…" and she looked over at the group who seemed slightly gloomy and deep in thought, all except Amber who seemed perfectly normal.

"It's a success Sarah," replied Amber as she smiled over at Sarah.

"Then what is everyone making that face for?" asked Sarah again.

"Most of us are probably just somewhat disappointed about the fact that our intense preparation had been unnecessary," said Amber as she looked over at Zachary.

"It's not so much of that Amber," said Zachary, "It's just that it does seem kind of fishy and all, about how easy the whole thing had went…"

"Anyways," interrupted Vincent suddenly, "Whether it's a trap or not it's still a fact that we have managed to secure the goods, for the moment at least. After tonight we will be heading back to the mansion. The sooner we leave the better."

"Alright then who's up for dinner!" said Haine merrily, wanting to ease the tension in the room, "I'll cook today!"

"That'll be nice," answered Claire at once, whom was beaming up at Haine, "Instead of going out to eat all the time when we're on a mission having a home cooked meal like this will be a pleasant change too!"

"Exactly!" said Sarah, whom was also smiling, "We are a family after all! Well at least for the time being we are supposed to act like one…"

"We have some canned food and vegetables in the kitchen back there I guess," said Zachary.

"Great then!" said Amber cheerfully. And at that, Haine and Sarah went to the kitchen and started to prepare dinner. About 45 minutes or so, the table was laid out with dishes.

"Oh I forgot the soup," said Haine and as she stood up from her chair, Amber suddenly stopped her and said, "Don't worry I'll get it."

After the soup was finally served, everyone suddenly started to tuck into their food except Haine, who continued to stare at the dishes.

"What's wrong?" asked Zachary, as he noticed Haine's solemn expression on her face.

"It's nothing," replied Haine, "It's just that this kind of reminds me of the final dinner I had with my family the night before the massacre… But it's a nice feeling now somehow, sitting with everyone like this and eating together at the same table… It's really as though we are a family isn't it?"

"Don't be silly," said Zachary as he patted her on the head, "Of course we are, all members of the mansion are one family aren't they?"

"You're right," said Haine, who smiled, "I'm really glad I came to the mansion and met everyone…"

"Now you're starting to make me cry Haine!" said Claire whose eyes are filled with tears and Nigel placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Come on stop thinking about sad things we should all start eating before the food gets cold…"

"Not bad," said Vincent; he had already been eating a piece of eel. "I never knew canned food could taste this good…"

"Maybe I should try some too," said Zachary and as he tasted the food, he seemed impressed as well.

Soon, everyone had finished the dinner while Amber volunteered to do the dishes. Before they knew it, it was already late at night.

"I'm getting really sleepy now," said Nigel as he yawned.

"So am I," said Claire.

"Guess it's time for bed then!" said Haine and everyone started to return to their rooms at once, all except Amber.

"I'm going to be guarding the goods for the night," she said as everyone retreated into their rooms.

"We'll leave it to you then," said Vincent as he went back into his room as well.

"Good night everyone," said Amber.

And making sure that each and everyone had gone back to their rooms, Amber had secretly walked out of the chalet and stood on a low cliff by the sea. Taking out her mobile phone, she started to dial a number. After a few seconds, someone had finally picked it up.

"Hey Sousuke, I've got the goods in my hands. The boats are ready as well I can ship them anytime to your place soon… Don't worry I've added a sleeping draught to the soup so they shouldn't be waking up anytime soon… All I've have to do now is to place the goods on one of the boats while I'll bring Haine onto the other boat. In the morning when everyone finds Haine and the goods gone chances are that they will assume that she's the traitor, even Zachary won't stand up for her this time. So when do you want me to…" But before Amber could finish her sentence, she had stopped in shock and stood rooted to the ground. Someone had been behind her, listening the whole time…

"What are you doing here with all the stolen goods Amber?" asked the voice behind her.

"I'm just guarding it properly," replied Amber, who continued to stare at her.

"Then who is it you were on the phone? You are the traitor that Rufus mentioned aren't you?" she said suspiciously.

"Stop being ridiculous Sarah," replied Amber at once, but her expression betrayed her…

"I heard something about placing Haine on one of the boats over there," retorted Sarah, "You are going to frame her aren't you? You are such a despicable woman!"

However right at that very moment, Amber had lunged forward and placing her hands around Sarah's neck and choking her, she said while Sarah desperately tried to break free and gasped for breath, "Honestly you should have been a good girl and drank the soup… It's way past bedtime for kids like you…" and Amber continued to stare down at Sarah, who was turned bluer and bluer by the moment…

"I hadn't originally intended to kill you," continued Amber, "But count yourself unlucky today… I won't let anyone get in my way, not even Zachary's sister…"

Abruptly, while Amber was paying little notice to Sarah's hands, Sarah had picked up a sharp piece of rock on the shore and slashed Amber on the stomach. Wincing in pain, Amber had released Sarah at once. Gasping for air and desperate to return to the chalet, Sarah stumbled and tried to regain her balance but just as she started to run towards its direction, Amber had grabbed her around the foot, causing her to slip and fall. Then, despite Sarah's best efforts to grab hold onto the edge of the cliff, she fell into the sea.

"Help!" she screamed as she flailed her hands frantically in the deep waters, "I can't swim!"

Staring at Sarah's struggling form in the sea, Amber continued to stand there unmoved and after what had seemed like about 10 minutes, Sarah's body finally gave out and she sank to the bottom of the sea…

"Stupid girl…" said Amber to herself as she turned around and walked away. However, to her astonishment, Haine had came out of the chalet and started to walk towards her direction.

"What the hell?" thought Amber, "Another one who didn't drink the soup?"

"What's happened?" asked Haine at the sight of Amber, "Why are you hurt? Did someone attack you?" and as she said so, she looked towards Amber's abdomen which had a deep gash across it. Clutching onto her stomach which was bleeding, Amber said, "Nothing's happened, just some robbers who came so I fought them off."

"Oh I see," answered Haine, "I heard voices just now, someone screaming and all… No matter how much I tried to wake Zachary he wouldn't open his eyes so I thought I would check it out myself…"

"Well now that you know it's nothing let's go back to the chalet… I've got to get my wounds treated after all and you can lend me a hand, Haine," said Amber whom was trying with extreme difficulty to keep up with the smile on her face.

"Alright then," said Haine and as she turned around and started to walk back, she suddenly stopped. Something had caught her eye.

"Hey isn't that Sarah's ribbon?" said Haine as she looked at a bright pink ribbon at the edge of the cliff, "What is it doing here?" but before she could take a closer look, a loud bang had erupted from the end of a pistol. It was Amber.

"Amber…" said Haine as she continued to look at Amber in shock, "What're you…" And as she said so, Haine kneeled onto the ground while clutching onto her left arm in pain.

Amber, whom was still holding onto her pistol, walked towards Haine slowly and pointed it directly at her forehead. "Sad… I was planning to let you live initially but looking at the way things are now, I guess that's impossible…" she said while looking at Haine; her face was full of loathing.

"What do you mean?" asked Haine.

"Sarah is dead," answered Amber, "She drowned… I pushed her into the sea when she discovered that I was about to frame you for stealing the goods…" and at that, she pointed towards the boat which contained the parcels which have been apprehended by Zachary and Haine from earlier on.

"Liar!" said Haine loudly, "There's no way Sarah is dead…" but a hint of panic in her voice was obvious.

"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not," said Amber, "the thing is you are going to die now…" and as she said so, she lifted the trigger, preparing to fire off anytime.

"Why are you doing this?" questioned Haine, who still could not believe everything she had heard. How could Amber, their friend, their comrade, possibly do something to hurt them?

"You stole Zachary away from me," said Amber, whom was now shaking with rage, "It would've been great if you had died then at the dungeons, when Sousuke attacked you… Would have saved me a whole load of trouble of getting rid of you…"

"You are the traitor…" said Haine, who then added, "Even if you had tried to frame me for stealing the goods chances are I would've still come back to the mansion and tell everyone the truth anyways… Your whole sham would be exposed Amber…" and as she said so, she forced herself to stand up, ignoring her gun wound as it continued to bleed profusely.

"You won't ever go back to the mansion, if you knew the shameful truth about your parents…" said Amber very quietly.

"What are you saying?" asked Haine, sounding alarmed now.

"Hazuki Kamiya, she's your real mother isn't she?" said Amber.

"How do you…" but before Haine could finish, Amber had cut in, "Is she or is she not?"

"Yes, she is," answered Haine, who continued to look at Amber.

"Ever wondered why she abandoned you in that fish village?" said Amber, "It's because she's a lowdown whore who seduced a married man and bore you… The man had chosen to leave her when she was still pregnant… You are a mere disgusting love child Haine… I can imagine how painful it must have been to face the product of her and the man who had abandoned her… No wonder she wanted to get rid of you so badly…"

"That," said Haine, who struggled to find her voice now, "is not true…"

"Reality is harsh," said Amber, "But I swear that everything I said was true…"

"So what if it is then?" said Haine, who spoke in a slightly stronger tone now, "That wouldn't stop me from going back to the mansion and telling everyone about the truth…"

"You sure you want to do that?" said Amber in a slightly mocking tone, "Even after knowing that the man who had abandoned your mother was in fact Rufus Robinson?"

"What?" burst out Haine before she could stop herself, "What on earth... That's impossible!"

"It's true, he abandoned you and your mother after his wife Elena had died…" replied Amber. And still feeling numb from the sudden truth of her parentage, Haine continued to stare at the ground, unable to look up. It had to be a bad dream, all of it…

"Now," said Amber, as she pointed the gun towards Haine, "It's time to say goodbye Haine, the first time you survived a death experience, it had been a mere miracle… But there won't be any second time…" and she pulled the trigger immediately and fired right at Haine.

A loud bang erupted from the end of the pistol and the bullet was embedded within Haine's stomach at once. Stumbling backwards, Haine took a few steps back before one of her legs had left the edge of the cliff and she fell straight into the sea.

"How could this have happened…" thought Haine as she sank slowly into the sea and while thinking so, she coughed up some blood in the waters. "Forget it… Ever since the village was destroyed I have been trying my best to live on but at the moment now I am seriously feeling very tired… I really don't want to fight anymore… whether it's searching for Kamiya Hazuki or anything else, I don't want to do anything anymore…" And gradually, everything around her had started to blur and fade away into the darkness.

"Goodbye, Zachary…" she thought as everything around her had turned completely black.

Amber, whom was still standing on the cliff right at this moment, continued to stare at the sea before Haine had finally disappeared out of sight. Then, unable to bear the excessive blood loss from the deep cut in her stomach any longer, she succumbed to her dizziness and collapsed onto the ground.


	29. Deception and despair

Chapter 29

"Amber! Amber!"

"Zachary?"

Amber opened her eyes slowly and saw Zachary's face. She was back in the chalet with her wounds bandaged.

"What happened?" asked Zachary at once, "The goods are missing, and Haine and Sarah are missing as well…"

Suddenly recalling what had happened, Amber abruptly burst into tears and hugged Zachary tightly at once.

"I tried to stop her," sobbed Amber, "But she attacked me instead, shouting at me to hand over the goods. Sarah came out to try to stop her… but… but…"

"But what?" asked Zachary, placing his hands on Amber's shoulders and shaking her slightly, "Who are you talking about? What happened to Sarah?"

"Haine killed Sarah," replied Amber, still keeping up with her crying act, "When Sarah tried to help me Haine pushed her straight into the waters. I wanted to save her but Haine prevented me from doing so, Sarah couldn't swim so she sunk right to the bottom of the sea…"

"You can't be telling the truth…" said Zachary blankly, whose hands were still placed on Amber's shoulders. Before Amber could say anything else however, someone had run into the room yelling.

"Zachary, you had better come!" said Claire. "Vincent wants to see you…" And standing up with a confused look on his face, Zachary went with Claire to the sea. It was shock beyond comprehension. Next to Vincent was Sarah whom was limp and still with her eyes closed. She looked no different from when she was sleeping, except that she looked paler than usual. Noticing Zachary's arrival, Vincent said slowly, "She's dead. Most likely she had washed up on the shore just now… I found this though," and at that, Vincent was holding onto the bright pink ribbon of Sarah's.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" said Zachary in immense shock, who still could not believe what he was seeing. Then without saying anything else, he knelt down next to Sarah's lifeless form and placed a hand on her face. It was cold as ice. Then abruptly, he lifted Sarah into his arms and hugged her very tightly.

"How could this have happened," said Zachary quietly, and as he said so a single tear had fell from his eye, "Just yesterday night everyone had been together, perfectly fine and normal… And yet now things are just so screwed up…"

Placing a hand on Zachary's shoulder, Vincent said, "I've informed Rufus about the stolen goods and Sarah, as well as about Haine's betrayal…" and right after Vincent had said that, Zachary stood up abruptly and grabbed Vincent by his collar roughly, saying in a shaky voice, "Don't talk rubbish… There's no way that she will do such a thing! This was most likely just…" However before he could finish, Vincent had punched the side of Zachary's face, causing Zachary to fall a few feet back. Zachary looked up in surprise.

"Stop lying to yourself Zachary!" said Vincent at once. "The truth is right in front of our very eyes… Haine had sold us out and stole the goods from us, it's as Amber had said, that Haine was trying to get us all killed in Mexico City back then. Just face it…"

Still saying nothing, Zachary walked towards Sarah and lifted her up. After a few minutes of silence or so, Zachary spoke in a quiet voice while keeping on an emotionless and unreadable expression on his face, "When we return to the mansion, I'll give her a proper funeral… Amber should get her wound treated when we get back as well, it must have been hard for her too…"

And soon after, the group had boarded the arrived helicopter. Zachary was sitting at the back, staring through the window throughout the whole ride home while still being deep in his own thoughts. Amber was sitting silently by his side the entire time, placing her hand on his. By then when they had finally arrived at the mansion, everyone had proceeded back to their rooms except Zachary, who had to make arrangements for Sarah's body to be handled. And after he had done so with Rufus, he headed back to his own room.

At that very moment, when nobody was around and the sudden truth about everything had just came crushing down upon him, it was then that he finally comprehended the fact that his one and only sister was gone forever, and that the person he loved had caused his sister's death…

"Why Haine?" Zachary asked himself as he kneeled down in the middle of his room and stared down at the floor, "Why must you do such a thing… Was everything you said a mere lie, an act to gain our trust in order to backstab us when the opportunity had arrived? I still can't believe that you would actually be willing to kill Sarah, who regarded you as nothing less than her own sister…" But before he could think further, someone had knocked on his door and came in. It was Amber.

"Are you ok?" she asked, sounding concerned.

Turning away from her, Zachary replied, "Yea, I'm fine. Are your wounds all right now?"

"It's no big deal," replied Amber, trying to keep her voice composed and merry, "More importantly though," and she switched her voice to a worried one, "I am concerned about you, it must be really hard for you now. The fact that Haine betrayed us, and that Sarah has left us forever…"

"You don't even understand half of it," replied Zachary straight away, which left Amber slightly taken aback.

"You're right," said Amber, finding it hard to keep her voice normal now, "I don't understand anything about you at all…I'm sorry…" and right after saying that, she turned around and proceeded to the door when suddenly, Zachary had grabbed her by her hand and said immediately, "I'm sorry Amber, it's just that at this moment I simply can't react to people around. I didn't mean to hurt you with my words…" and at that, Amber had placed her hand on his mouth and stopped him from saying anything else. Then, while wrapping her arms around him, she placed a kiss gently on his lips, causing Zachary to look slightly astonished.

"It's ok," said Amber, looking into Zachary's eyes, "I'll always be by your side so don't feel sad… You've still got me Zachary…"

Caught up in the moment, Zachary returned her kiss and the two laid on top of each other on the bed, kissing each other passionately while Zachary was slowly unbuttoning Amber's shirt.

"Thank you for everything, Amber… You're all I've got left now…" he whispered into her ear, which caused her to shudder in pleasure.

"I love you Zachary…" said Amber while placing a hand on his face, "Since a long time ago…"

And the two continued to make love for the night…

"I'll avenge you Sarah, even if it's the last thing I do…"


	30. Even in the dark I hang on to the light

Chapter 30

"Please take care of Haine for me, Juuri," a woman dressed in a cloak said desperately.

"Hazuki, why are you doing this? She's your daughter…" said Kyousuke in slight indignation.

"I'm sorry," replied Hazuki with tears trickling down her face. "I just can't have her with me anymore… I just can't…" And right after saying so, she turned her back on the couple and ran hurriedly towards the village exit. "Goodbye, Haine…" she said quietly as she left.

Then abruptly, the surroundings began to dissolve and swirl into darkness…

"Don't leave me everyone!" shouted Haine before finally opening her eyes and found herself lying on a soft and comfortable bed.

Sitting up and glancing around the place she was in, it took a few minutes for her to fully register everything which had happened.

"That's right, Amber had… And Sarah too…" thought Haine as sadness overwhelmed her completely, "And Hazuki, my mother… she abandoned me because she resented Rufus…" and at that, she thought of the dream she had just a moment ago, suddenly realizing that there were tears which mingled with the sweat on her face. Wiping her face with a clean towel on a table beside her bed, she stared into the mirror in front and noticed that her wounds had been bandaged and that she was dressed in a clean new set of T-shirt and shorts. Embarrassed at the prospect that someone else may have undressed her while she had still been unconscious, she got up immediately and left the room, wanting to leave the place as soon as possible.

"Where am I anyway," thought Haine in bewilderment as she stepped right outside of the door. She was in a long and narrow corridor lined with paintings and crystal lights. Leaning closely against the walls, she walked slowly until she had reached the end of the corridor where she heard voices. Taking a step closer, she saw that she had reached a place which was somewhat like a tiny living room, with carpeted floor and two soft couches and a round table in between them. Three men were sitting in one of the chairs on the left while two men were sitting in the other on the right. The one on the left spoke first.

"Thank you Mr Lee for having us here in your house this very moment, we understand that you must be extremely busy with a large conference coming soon and all."

"No worries, Mr Kobayashi… Since both of us will be in the upcoming discussion about signing the free trade agreement in Zaieno it's common courtesy to introduce ourselves to each other don't you think," said the other guy on the right as he smiled politely.

"Zaieno eh?" replied the man, "The country ruled by the young king Mr Noctis Clayworth. Whoever gets the rights to access his country freely would be equivalent to ruler of the black market I suppose… That is to say…" and the other man on the right who had not spoken even once yet suddenly twitched uncomfortably.

"Stop it Henry," whispered Mr Lee, and the man instantly remained still.

"…that everyone will be willing to use any means possible to obtain that contract with him… Will you be willing to forfeit Mr Lee?" asked Mr Kobayashi, unable to conceal the eagerness in his voice any longer.

"I told you before Mr Kobyashi," replied Mr Lee, sounding slightly irritated now, "I'll not back out from this upcoming conference no matter what. Everyone should be on an equal playing field. To resort to this…" but before he had finished, Mr Kobayashi had cut in, "So you won't step down then Mr Lee?" and this time there was no mistaking it; he sounded very keen and impatient.

"You've got that right," replied Mr Lee firmly. "Now if you've got no further issues to discuss with me I suggest you leave right now. Henry, invite the guests out please…" and at that, Henry stood up and ushered the three towards the door. However, neither of them had moved. Then after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Mr Kobayashi abruptly yelled out to the two men beside him, "Takashi! Mikami!" and the two men instantly went behind Henry and locked him with their arms, preventing him from moving while Henry struggled to break free.

"Mr Kobayashi, what are you…" but Mr Lee's voice died away as Mr Kobayashi had taken out a gun from his jacket and pointed it straight at him.

"Since you're just so intolerant of others' suggestions, I guess it will be your stubbornness which kills you in the end then, Lee Jian Zhi…" and right after that, as he proceeded to pull the trigger, a pure white knife had flew out of nowhere and stabbed him hard in his hand, causing him to drop the gun instantly. Haine had come out from behind the wall.

"Who on earth are you?" asked Mr Kobayashi while grabbing onto his bleeding palm in pain. The others in the room remain transfixed at Haine, apparently shocked at this unexpected arrival of a new guest.

Saying nothing in response to his question, Haine ran forwards towards Mr Kobayashi, attempting to knock him out. However at that very moment, Mikami had released Henry and ran forth to block her kick. Proceeding to strike Mikami in his abdomen with her other knee, she managed to knock him backwards and he ended up landing right on top of Mr Kobayashi. While the pair on the floor struggled to stand back up, the other man, Takashi, had lunged forward at Haine. In the spur of the moment, Haine had conjured up two knives in her hands and threw them straight into the man's ankles, causing him to fall over. Henry, whom was now released from the pair, stood unmoved and continued to stare at Haine, apparently at a loss of words and believed that his eyes had just deceived him. Mr Lee however was observing the scene carefully and seemed almost unfazed by what had just happened.

"Freak!" shouted Mr Kobayashi in fear as he headed towards the door with his two subordinates limping behind him. Then as he reached for the door knob, Mr Kobayashi turned around at the last minute and yelled straight at Mr Lee, "Don't think this is over, just because you've found yourself a competent bodyguard doesn't mean that it will be enough in the upcoming conference. You should know pretty well yourself that besides us a few others attending the meeting will have extremely tough people to protect them as well, certainly tougher than that bitch right over there," and giving a final glance at Haine and Mr Lee, he left the house as fast as he could.

Before Haine could do anything else, Mr Lee had already walked up towards her and asked politely, "You are someone who can see the light, aren't you?"

"Yes, I can," answered Haine who found it pointless to hide that fact after what had just occurred just now. "And you are the one who saved me aren't you, Mr Lee?"

"Henry found you covered in blood and washed up at the shore a few days ago. He thought you were dead but he brought you here as soon as he realized that you were still breathing," replied Mr Lee.

"I see," replied Haine, who looked over at Henry and smiled, "Thank you, for everything…"

"Any normal person would have done the same," replied Henry, "I'm just glad you're fine now. And for rescuing Mr Lee just now, you have my utmost gratitude." and as he said so, he bowed slightly towards Haine.

And after staring at the ground in slight awkwardness for a few seconds, Haine suddenly spoke, "I am grateful to the both of you for saving my life, but I don't think I should intrude on your hospitality any further… I shall get going then, thanks for everything…" and as she turned towards the door while having completely no idea where she is going to go next, Mr Lee said at once, "Can you do us a favour please?" which made Haine turned around, looking slightly puzzled.

"As you may have heard just now, there would be an upcoming discussion held somewhere in this city regarding the black market monopoly. Undoubtedly the 6 businessmen present inclusive of myself would have extremely strong guards to protect them when things go wrong or get real unpleasant, just like what had happened just now. I was wondering if you could work side along Henry and serve as my body guard during the whole discussion?" said Mr Lee while Henry continued to remain silent.

At first, Haine considered for a moment to refuse the offer, thinking that she would rather much prefer not to get involved with any of such things ever again, but after remembering that they had after all saved her life, she reluctantly nodded and agreed.

"Perfect," answered Mr Lee, sounding satisfied.

"I'll explain the details to her later," said Henry while Mr Lee nodded over to him.

"By the way," said Mr Lee suddenly, which caused Haine to look up at him, "You still haven't told me your name yet young lady."

"Oh, yea that's right, I am Haine Amamiya, and you can just call me Haine, Mr Lee." replied Haine, and after a while she suddenly added, "I am curious… how do you know about people who can see the light? Unless, you…" But before she could finish, Mr Lee had answered, "No I can't see it, however I've heard rumours about people who can do so and in return gain some abilities from out of this world. This is the first time I am seeing a live example. But it is possible that in this upcoming conference there may be such individuals like yourself who can do so as well and that's why," and he made a firm look at Haine, "your help will be of utmost necessity to our success."

"There are others who can do so in the upcoming meeting as well?" burst out Haine before she could help it; she had instantly thought of Rufus and the others in the mansion. After Amber's success in framing her for the missing goods as well as the truth about her parentage, she felt that she would rather prefer not to see them for a very long time.

"Yes," answered Mr Lee, feeling slightly surprised at Haine's reaction, "Specifically 2 actually, Noctis Clayworth as well as his right hand man, Cain Ashford. I don't know their full capabilities, however there's no need to worry… Since Mr Clayworth himself is the centre of attention and mentor of this whole meeting it's unlikely that we have to guard ourselves against him… It's more important to guard ourselves against the other body guards which may use any underhanded means or attack anyone when things go out of hand. They have no record of ever being able to see the light, and for as far as I know, they may not even know about it at all ever since only extremely rare individuals have such abilities, but they are nevertheless trained fighters so we can't afford to underestimate anyone during the meeting."

"Right," answered Haine who had barely listened to any of Mr Lee's words, except for the fact that no one from the mansion was likely ever going to be present, which made her feel immensely relieved.

"Now Henry," said Mr Lee and Henry looked over instantly, "would you brief her on what is to be expected at the conference in a week from now?"

Nodding respectfully to Mr Lee, Henry brought Haine to a room which resembled somewhat like a study room full of bookshelves and both settled onto the chairs. Taking out a piece of paper, he started to draw the outline of the meeting room and noted down the names of the people present in the room; two bodyguards stood behind each of the 6 individuals, including Mr Lee himself. After a minute or so, the names were arranged somewhat like this:

(Mikami) (Takashi)

(Kobayashi)

(Cain Ashford) (Victor Ockley)

(Noctis Clayworth)

(Alexandr Egorov) (Mikhail Egorov)

(Afanasi Ivanov)

(Aaron Smith) (William Jones)

(Janet Wilson)

(Linda Uzelac) (Desmond Cooper)

(Jayla Anderson)

(Haine Amamiya) (Henry)

(Lee Jian Zhi)

"The meeting has 2 parts," said Henry, "The first half is mainly an introduction and seemingly redundant discussion which is merely a chance for everyone in the room to evaluate and get a clear idea of one another's motives and ideas. It is unlikely that any physical conflict will occur, except for a few verbal clashes which may happen. The second half however," and Henry made a sudden strict and serious face, "It's when the true discussion starts and things may get a little nasty. Mr Clayworth won't be involved much but on the other hand, the other four in the room will take the chance to get on his good sides all in order to win his favour and increase their likelihood of getting the free trade treaty in Zaieno. During this time, when a party clashes with another, anything can happen and it's our duty to protect Mr Lee to our utmost capabilities. Is there anything you are unsure of, Ms Amamiya?"

"Call me Haine," she replied and continued to stare at the outline intently. "What is the worst case scenario which may happen, Henry? During the second half of the meeting I mean…"

"There is once," answered Henry, "Whereby 2 deaths had occurred due to a heated argument which led to a shootout… When discussing about deals within the black market such things are unavoidable, but I'll protect Mr Lee of course, no matter what it takes…"

"You must respect Mr Lee a lot, to go that far for him," said Haine.

"He saved me when I was an orphan child," replied Henry, "He is actually a very kind person but is unfortunately bound to many commitments and is forced to carry on his family's underworld business. By day he seems like a very cold man but deep down inside he despises conflict more than anyone else. That's why, I really hope that he will be able to clinch the coming business deal."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will," replied Haine cheerfully, "I'll make sure he gets into no harm during the meeting at all…" which made Henry smiled back at Haine and while leaving for the door, he briefly nodded towards her.

Heading back towards her room, she then entered the bathroom, changed her bandages to new ones which were right beside the sink and then got dressed. Her wounds had almost faded to mere scars. It seemed as though her wounds had been almost fully taken care of during the few days she was unconscious. While lying on her bed, she still couldn't help but feel extremely surprised that she had managed to survive from Amber's gunshots and from falling into the sea. Then, suddenly switching her thoughts to Zachary, a sense of both regret and sorrow came over her.

"He must be feeling extremely upset about Sarah's death now…" said Haine to herself, "And he is probably mad with me too, for leaving without a word… He must think I've betrayed the whole group… But I just can't go back and tell them anything now," and a single tear started to drop from her eye, "I don't know how to face anyone at the mansion anymore, especially Rufus… If he knew that I'm actually his and Hazuki's daughter will he abandon me like what he did back then to my mother as well? And Vincent and Sebastian will probably not want to see me anymore if they knew who I really was…" and all of a sudden, the time when she had questioned Stephanie about why Rufus had once neglected his whole family had flashed in her mind, with Vincent saying, "Because a slut seduced him and intoxicated his mind…"

"That's right, there is no return to that mansion anymore…" and hardly able to keep her eyes open any longer, she fell asleep on her bed, not wanting to think of anything else any longer…


	31. Noctis Clayworth

Chapter 31

"You look pretty relaxed for someone who's going to direct a major meeting tomorrow…"

"The ones to worry during tomorrow's discussion should be others and not me don't you think, Cain?"

A man who looks around 21 years old was sitting by the river and fishing. He had startling bluish-grey eyes, a tall, straight nose, a pointy face, thin pair of lips and dark, black hair. He was wearing a black collared shirt with a pair of dark grey pants. A ring with a black stone was on his right index finger.

Feeling a pull on his fishing rod, he lifted it up immediately. However, to his slight disappointment, it was only a moldy leather boot.

"Great catch," said the other man sarcastically as the black-haired man tossed the boat away. He looked about the same age as the black haired man, and had pale coloured hair and dark blue eyes.

"If you've got that much time to see me fish then I suggest you go back to the castle and prepare for tomorrow," replied the black haired man.

"I thought you said there's nothing to worry about, Noctis?" answered Cain in a slightly sardonic tone.

"Technically speaking we haven't gotten enough information on the others who will be attending the meeting tomorrow," said Noctis, "I am guessing that the meeting tomorrow will be more than enough to guess their personalities and decide who we should give the contract to but just in case it's not enough," and he suddenly placed the fishing rod to one side and clenched his fingers together while placing his chin on it, "We should do a thorough background check as well."

"Marco has most probably done so already, knowing him he does always tend to do more preparation than what's enough," replied Cain.

"Excellent," answered Noctis as he grabbed his fish rod and stood up, "Guess tomorrow's meeting will be a breeze then."

"You really think so?" asked Cain, sounding slightly more serious now. "To have tax free importing and exporting of goods from Zaieno is a chance many would literally kill to obtain. I am guessing that tomorrow's going to get ugly for others whom are rejected."

"Then there will be a good show ahead," replied Noctis simply, sounding even slightly amused. "The battle between other bodyguards is the main highlight of the event after all. Speaking of that, you and Victor have already done your necessary preparation haven't you?"

"Sort of," said Cain, "I'm bringing 2 hand pistols along, with a couple of refills. Victor's choice of weapon will likely be an assault rifle. He does go for the big guns to show off after all…"

"Guess I won't be needing anything then," answered Noctis as the both of them proceeded to walk back to the castle.

"Not like you'll need anything even if both of us weren't around," said Cain.

"Perhaps so," answered Noctis, "By the way you have informed Maria that you are going to be gone for a few days or so for the meeting haven't you? Knowing her personality she is going to make a ruckus when she finds you gone without leaving her a note."

"I've told her of course," said Cain, "Not that it makes a difference though… Whenever I go out of this country that little brat always does makes a fuss out of everything…"

"She's only 5 years old," said Noctis, "And you are her one and only brother after all. It's expected that she'll be anxious for you… Though I wouldn't know anything of that sort since I haven't had any siblings before after all…"

"Don't say that," said Cain as he proceeded to place a shoulder over Noctis and pulled him right along, "We are brothers aren't we?" and he winked at Noctis.

Noctis, finally breaking free from Cain's grip, gave a brief laugh before going through the entrance of the castle. At that very moment, a man around 28 years old had ran towards the pair. He had medium length hair and a short, stubby beard.

"What's up Victor?" asked Cain while he continued to stare at him.

"I've been waiting for both of you to return," said Victor, "Marco just received a phone call from London, it's about Rufus…"

"What happened to Rufus?" asked Noctis sharply.

"Apparently the drugs which they've failed to obtain in Mexico City were supposedly recovered in China," said Victor, "But sadly there seemed to have been unforeseen circumstances behind it which led to the disappearance of the goods. They suspect it's a traitor on their side, but Rufus hasn't gone into details yet though, seems that he is still investigating the case…"

"I am figuring he pretty much has the answer already," said Noctis, "Knowing him for many years he is probably just reluctant to accept the truth about things, since it regards a traitor within his ranks… Just like the case with Simon Morgan even though Rufus had known what he had been up to he hesitated to make a move… That man is simply too kind for his own sake…"

"But that's why your father valued him as a friend back when he was still alive isn't it," said Cain, "Rufus was the only one your father trusted enough to let him in on many of your family's secrets…"

"I know," replied Noctis, "Ever since my father had died and I became King of Zaieno, I've regarded Rufus as a mixture of father of brother as well… And that's why," and Noctis sounded slightly more firm in his voice, "If it's his decision to carry on with his investigation till the very end, then we shall not interfere in it and respect his decision…"

"Though if it was me of course," continued Noctis suddenly as the 3 started to head upstairs, "I wouldn't hesitate to torture the truth of out the traitor, even if it means to severe each and every one of his fingers…"

"Guess you inherited your father's domineering personality," said Victor.

Finally reaching a room which resembles somewhat like an office, a bespectacled man with neatly gelled up hair was inside while holding onto some papers. Noticing the arrival of Noctis, Cain and Victor, Marco walked towards them and handed the papers over to them while saying, "These are the information you may need for tomorrow, and it includes the list of people who will be present as well, inclusive of the accompanying bodyguards. Their choice of guards is exactly as you predicted Noctis, all except for Mr Lee Jian Zhi however, instead of the usual pair Henry and Jackson, this time he has asked along someone by the name of Haine Amamiya instead to replace Jackson."

After staring at the paper for a moment, Noctis finally spoke, "It doesn't matter who the guards are; there will inevitably be a showdown of some sort once I've announced who will be getting the authorization to import and export goods from Zaieno. Though I am quite curious about the quality of the guards this coming meeting… Hope I can get a glimpse of a decent fight at least…"

"Honestly are those the words of a King?" said Marco in a bemused tone. "You sound no different from any mafia member out there…"

"Give it a rest Marco," said Victor, "You are way too serious…"

"Yea," said Cain, "If you're going to be like that always then all your hair will drop off in no time at all… The last time I checked Lisa still hasn't agreed to your proposal yet hasn't she? Think of how she'll feel when she marries an uptight guy like you…"

"This has no relation to tomorrow," said Marco coldly.

While the 3 continued on with their argument, Noctis, all the while staring out of the window while absorbed in his own thoughts, said to himself, "If Lee Jian Zhi has chosen to replace his previous guard with another then it must mean that she has some skill at least… Haine Amamiya… I'll be looking forward to seeing her fight the most…"

As tomorrow came closer and closer by the second, he was not the only one whom was thinking about the upcoming meeting at this moment however; at this very instant, the other 5 main individuals of the meeting who came from different places were currently doing as much preparation work as they could, each of them equally keen on doing whatever it takes to clinch the deal during tomorrow's conference…


	32. The first half

Chapter 32

"The car is here," said Henry. He was dressed the same as Mr Lee; a lounge suit inclusive of a tie. On the other hand, Haine was currently dressed in a long sleeve black T-shirt, opaque black stockings and an orange skirt. As the 3 entered into the black car, the chauffeur said, "We will be there in about 30 minutes time," and Mr Lee gave a curt nod towards him.

"You sure you won't need any weapon at hand?" asked Henry as he looked towards Haine. "I've brought along another spare gun just for insurance…"

"No thanks," replied Haine, who continued to stare out of the window and wonder how the meeting would be like. "I'm fine the way it is…"

Throughout the whole ride to the meeting hall, Mr Lee kept silent and stared at his hands, which were clenched tightly together. Then all of a sudden, at a traffic light, two other cars had appeared right beside them, undoubtedly heading towards the meeting hall as well. Curious about whom they were, Haine looked up and saw that Mr Kobayashi, along with his subordinates Mikami and Takashi, were on their right. Mr Kobayashi had looked up as well, and noticing Haine staring at them, he narrowed his eyes slightly and looked away, while the other two continued to stare at her, clearly still angered and upset about their defeat last week. Not wanting to spark off any unnecessary tension right before the meeting, Haine turned to her left immediately and looked inside the other car.

The driver was a bespectacled man with impeccably gelled up hair, beside him was another man in his late twenties with medium length hair and a short stubby beard. He was conspicuously holding onto a rifle in his hands. Behind the two, were two other men whom were currently staring out of the windows. The man on the left was blond and despite the fact that he was wearing a jacket over his suit, Haine could recognize from the outline that a pistol was discreetly hidden in his belt. The last man in the car however, Haine noticed, was an Asian man with exceptionally sharp features. His eyes were bluish-grey, which contrasted slightly with his Asian features but were nevertheless captivating. The first impression Haine had of him was that apart from Zachary, he was one of the best looking guys she had ever seen in her life. Searching for any signs of weapons that he may have hidden somewhere in his suit, Haine straightened up her back slightly and continued to analyze him from head to toe, hoping that she could spot at least a single pistol sticking out from his belt. However at that very moment, the man had looked up as well and noticing that Haine was staring directly at him, he gave a polite smile at her. Feeling slightly embarrassed, Haine merely returned a brief nod at him before quickly looking away and proceeded to stare down at her shoes.

Then, when the traffic light had finally turned green again, Noctis's car was the first one to go, followed by Mr Lee and then Mr Kobayashi. After about 5 minutes or so, when all cars had arrived at the meeting hall, everyone had gotten out of their cars while some men had come forth and offered to park the cars. Mr Kobayashi had started to walk towards Noctis, with Mikami and Takashi following closely behind him, and as they passed Haine, Mikami stared at her out of the corner of his eyes, while Takashi said so quietly that only Haine could hear him, "You won't get lucky a second time…"

"It's an honour to see you Mr Clayworth," said Mr Kobayashi with his hand held out. "I've heard much about your competence in your manipulation of the black market. An admirable feat, for someone so young… but as expected of the ruler of Zaieno I suppose…"

Shaking his hand, Noctis replied in a composed yet well-mannered tone, "You flatter me, Mr Kobayashi. I've heard much about you, as well as your achievements and notorious reputation. Funny how people who oppose you eventually end up missing and never come back…" and Victor, whom was behind Noctis the whole time, chuckled slightly at Noctis's remark and left Mr Kobayashi feeling extremely awkward and discomfited, almost unable to believe what he had just heard. As Mikami and Takashi started to take a step forward towards the four, Mr Kobayashi threw a warning look at them before they stopped right in their steps.

"I'll be much awaiting for your final decision, Mr Clayworth," he said and the three then proceeded to walk inside the hall. Making sure that he was out of earshot, Mr Kobayashi had uttered something along the lines of "arrogant brat" before completely disappearing through the door.

"I'll be waiting for you guys at the lobby," said Marco as he started to walk away and took out a pack of cigarettes, leaving the other three still directly outside the entrance of the meeting hall. Then, turning around and looking directly at Mr Lee, Noctis started to approach him and said, "I'll be looking forward to your attendance, Mr Lee," and then as he placed a hand in his pocket and started to turn around and join Cain and Victor, he had unmistakably given a brief glance at Haine before disappearing through the door.

"Let's go," said Mr Lee, and the three started to head into the meeting hall as well.

It was a spacious room with clear, blue marble floor. 6 tables were assembled in the room, with 3 in each row, altogether forming two rows which were facing each other form opposite sides of the room. Crystal lights were hanging from the ceiling. After a minute or so, all had arrived and got seated at their respective tables, with the two bodyguards standing directly behind each person.

"Any volunteers to make the first move?" asked Noctis, sounding almost entertained.

"I do have a question at hand Mr Clayworth," said a man with a Russian accent. He was Afanasi Ivanov. "Judging from the situation in Zaieno there don't seem to be any need of any foreign cooperation, at least it doesn't seem so at the moment… What has made you so keen on seeking cooperation from other countries as well?"

"I've wanted to ask you the same question myself, Mr Clayworth," said a lady at the corner. She was Janet Wilson.

"There is a reason for it," replied Noctis, "That be it that my late father's wish was for Zaieno to undergo global trade with the rest of the world and I shall do as he had planned." Right after that, whispers and murmurs started to break out in the room. Then, someone had spoken.

"That's extremely unexpected of you Mr Clayworth," said Mr Kobayashi and barely concealing the bored tone in his voice as Noctis turned around and looked at him, "To be a leader of such a capable country and yet bound to such sentimental commitments I am honestly shocked…" but before he could continue further, Mr Lee had cut in abruptly, "Not everyone thinks the same as you Mr Kobayashi," and the two made direct eye contact at each other for the first time since the meeting had started, "There are other things which people strive to achieve besides wealth and fame, and only a few would truly know that fact…"

"Meaning what?" asked Mr Kobayashi mockingly, "That you would willingly let others pull you down and hinder you in your success?"

"By your perspective that may be so," said Mr Lee, apparently unaffected by his sarcasm, "But I would view it as a chance to be flexible instead, not just to manifest one's competitiveness continually but to also prove that all of us are ultimately still human and not the straight face that we keep on in the business world all the time. I'm sure that many of us here will feel the same way, that which our lives revolve not only around business but other things worth living for as well…"

"Well said Mr Lee," an African American woman whom was sitting at the table right beside Mr Lee had said, "Few can truly empathize what it means to excel in the black market business and throw aside all emotions at the same time… I have no regrets even if I fail to clinch the deal with Mr Clayworth today, as I have finally met someone like you Mr Lee… I do hope that we will be friends even after today's meeting has ended…" and Mr Lee turned around and smiled politely, replying, "Of course we will Ms Anderson, that's the purpose of today's meeting after all, a great chance to get to know others like ourselves from other parts of the world…"

Trying his best to hide his displeasure, Mr Kobayashi just stayed silent and pursed his lips tightly, all the while with his eyes on Mr Lee. And as the meeting went on with most of the people interacting with one another and talking about the most ordinary of things, it was finally time for an intermission.

"There're some light refreshments outside in the lounge," said Noctis, "We shall commence the second half in half an hour's time." And as he got up and left, the rest followed and left for the lounge as well, with everyone obviously feeling slightly drained out.

"I'm glad that's over," said Haine as she fell back and leaned against the wall, feeling tired from standing for 2 whole hours.

"There's still the second half to go," replied Henry, looking clearly stern, "But the first half could have gotten worse, that much I am glad it didn't…"

"Come on let's go now," said Haine as she looked around the room. She and Henry were the last ones left. And as they went out into the lounge, most people had already settled down and were drinking cups of hot coffee. Not feeling exactly hungry or thirsty, Haine told Henry, "I'm going upstairs to the roof balcony… And don't worry I'll be back before the meeting starts… Please tell Mr Lee for me Henry…" and as she turned away and left, she climbed up the stairs out into the open space.

Compared to a few hours ago, whereby the skies were still clear and blue, it was now completely black with the moon shining brightly at one corner of the sky. On its left however was the star which never failed to appear each and every single night; God's eye.

"It's been a long time since I've started seeing it," thought Haine as she looked up at it, "To think that so many things have happened since then, it just seems so surreal to me even now…" and as she thought so, she gripped tightly onto the necklace Zachary had given her. "I guess the only constant all these years has been the appearance of God's eye during the night…" and as she continued to look at the dazzling star, she had suddenly heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Suspecting that it may be Mr Kobayashi whom obviously didn't look too please from Mr Lee's retort from earlier on, she turned around immediately and braced herself. However to her slight relief and surprise, it was just Noctis Clayworth.

"There don't seem to be many stars in the sky tonight," he said casually as he looked over at Haine, "I'm surprised there's even someone here at this very moment."

"Well," replied Haine who didn't exactly know what she should say in return, "It always feels good to take a breather once in a while instead of being stuck in an enclosed area all the time…"

Laughing slightly, Noctis said, "Judging from your tone I guess I can safely assume that you aren't very used to office work then…"

"That's true," admitted Haine; even back in the mansion she had always despised her office duties when she was still in the junior division if not for Zachary's presence. Then suddenly thinking of Zachary, a painful emotion swept over her instantly and desperate to divert her attention, she immediately looked up at God's eye and stared intently at it for the next few seconds.

"There is a legend," said Noctis suddenly and Haine turned around and looked at him instantly, "That the star which dazzled the brightest among all represented what was known as God's eye… And that for certain individuals who have managed to come back alive from death itself will be forever blessed and watched by the being which had summoned them back from the dead… That being is God…" Haine continued to look at him in bemusement, and then he added, "At least that's what a friend of mine tells me…"

"It's just a legend isn't it," replied Haine, feeling slightly uncomfortable now. If she could help it she would rather not dwell on the topic of seeing the light ever since she had unwillingly exposed that fact on several occasions. "It has no basis whatsoever… Probably just a story to entertain little kids during bedtime…"

"You really think so?" asked Noctis as he looked at Haine with a curious expression on his face.

"I know so," Haine said simply and as she turned to leave for the stairs, not wanting to continue with the conversation any longer, Noctis had called out, "You still haven't given me a formal introduction of yourself yet, care to do it now?"

Despite her eagerness to leave, she stopped and turned around, not wanting to be rude or offensive towards him. Then, she answered, "I am Haine Amamiya. You can just refer to me as Haine if you need to."

"I am Noctis Clayworth, all my friends call me Noctis… so just call me Noctis if you need to ask me anything," answered Noctis. Then, after a few awkward moments of silence, Haine went back down the stairs and met up with Mr Lee and Henry.

Most of the food and drinks were cleared, leaving only a few crumbs behind. Having already stood up from their seats, everyone was gathered together and conversing with one another, evidently all getting prepared for the second half of the conference…


	33. Final decision

Chapter 33

"Are you kidding?" asked Mr Kobayashi while he continued to stare at Noctis, looking extremely bewildered. "You are going to hand over the contract to him?" he said as he pointed towards Mr Lee. Henry made a sudden movement with his hand, undoubtedly prepared to reach for his pistol but Mr Lee held up a hand to stop him.

"Now now Mr Kobayashi," said Ms Wilson. "We should respect Mr Clayworth's decision here. If that is truly his final choice then we should all respect it…" and the rest nodded in agreement.

"As I've said Mr Kobayashi," said Noctis, who was apparently unfazed by Mr Kobayashi's aggression, "There is no further need of discussion once we have returned to this room. From the first half of the meeting I've already made a clear decision that the contract shall go to Mr Lee Jian Zhi."

Mr Kobayashi continued to look at Noctis, looking very much like he wanted to hit them. However, after a minute or so, Mr Kobayshi stood up, closed his eyes briefly and then headed towards the door. However just as he was about to reach for the doorknob, he said in an expressionless tone, "Not if I can help it Noctis Clayworth…" and turning around at once, he signaled towards Mikami and Takashi, whom each held out a gun and pointed towards both Noctis and Mr Lee.

"Are you mad?" asked Mr Ivanov, clearly looking shocked and horrified.

"I'm just as mad as you are," replied Mr Kobayshi who then proceeded to take out his own gun and pointed it straight at Mr Lee. The atmosphere in the room suddenly got very heavy and tense.

Then with a swift movement, Henry whipped out his gun and shot straight at Mr Kobayashi. However, he had managed to dodge just in time and Henry shot the vase behind him instead, causing it to shatter to the floor. All the bodyguards in the room had suddenly stepped in front of the table, all preparing to defend their bosses.

Taking full advantage of the instance when Mikami was temporarily distracted by the other bodyguards, Haine conjured up a short sword and slashed right at Mikami, slicing his gun into half and leaving a deep cut on his hand in the process. While Mikami was momentarily taken aback and stumbled backwards slightly, Haine proceeded to grab his face towards her knee, striking his face and then kicking him with her left leg. Mikami fell to the ground and raised his face up. His nose was bleeding badly. Walking towards him with a merciless expressionless look on her face, Haine then made two daggers appear in her right hand.

"Still going to fight?" she asked as she stood over Mikami's defenseless form. "If you promise not to attack anymore then I'll spare your life…" As the two stared at each other for a few seconds, Takashi had suddenly abandoned his attempt to assault Noctis and lunged forward towards Haine instead. Noticing his attack, Haine immediately turned towards Takashi and grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him towards her, striking his chest with a punch and snatched the gun away from Takashi. He fell forward onto the ground. Aiming the gun towards him, Haine was just about to pull the trigger when a voice had suddenly said, "I won't pull the trigger if I were you little girl…" She turned around and saw that Mr Kobayashi was directly behind Mr Lee and placing a gun against his forward. Henry was apparently unconscious on the ground next to Mr Lee, his stomach bleeding profusely.

"Put down the gun," he said to Haine but she still did not move.

"I said…" Mr Kobayashi was struggling to find his voice now, "Put down your gun you goddamn bitch!" and at that very instant, his expression of rage had turned to one of alarm. A huge bang had erupted from behind Haine. Switching her gaze, she noticed that wisp of smoke had come out from the end of Victor's rifle. He had shot Mr Kobayashi directly in his head. The entire room was silent as Mr Kobayashi fell forward to the ground slowly and after his hand had twitched for a few seconds or so, his whole body remained completely still while his eyes were still wide opened, with a line of blood coming out from his mouth.

"No…" cried out Takashi as he watched all signs of life leaving Mr Kobayashi. Then without warning, Cain fired his pistol at Mikami, whom was initially transfixed at the sight of Mr Kobayashi, had an expression of surprise on his face as he placed a hand over his neck. Large volumes of blood were gushing out from him. He collapsed onto the floor and remained limp and still. Takashi was now giving howls of pain and agony now, while staring at the lifeless form of his partner and his boss. Then just as Cain was about to pull the trigger a second time, Haine threw one of her daggers at Cain instantly, causing his gun to fly out of his hands. Nocits, Victor and Cain all turned their attention to Haine at once.

"What are you doing?" Cain asked as he looked over at Haine, looking baffled.

"That's my line," replied Haine who looked directly into Cain's eyes. "Mr Kobayashi is already dead, there's no need to kill his men as well, ever since they were just being manipulated by him from the very beginning…"

"Are those the words of someone who had just ruthlessly disarmed those men just a moment ago?" asked Victor as he took a step forward and looked down at Haine. Despite being much taller than her, Haine continued to stand there unmoved and had a firm look on her face.

"I did it because it was necessary, if not your boss and my boss would have been shot right in their heads," said Haine, sounding slightly impatient now. "Though it is true that at times it is necessary to drive the unwanted pus out of this world," and as she said so, she immediately thought of what Zachary had said to her on the plane about Rufu's ideologies the first day she had arrived in London, "But as far as possible we should try to preserve lives instead of destroying them don't you think?" The rest of the room remained extremely quiet and continued to stare at Noctis, Cain, Victor and Haine.

As Victor started to open his mouth in protest, Noctis had stood up and placed his hand on Victor's shoulder and said to Haine, "That man over there," and he pointed towards Takashi, "has no right to live after what he had just done… Though as you have said he was merely following orders but that nevertheless means that he had killed tons of people with his own bare hands… Would you really forgive yourself if you let him off the hook this time while he continues on working for others and killing on others' orders?"

"I swear I wouldn't do anything anymore!" cried out Takashi as he looked at Haine with pleading eyes, "So please don't kill me! I'll do anything…"

Ignoring his cries and begs, Noctis abruptly snatched Cain's other gun from his belt and attempted to fire at Takashi, but Haine interfered once again, aiming her dagger at him. However at that very instant, something extraordinary had just happened. Noctis had disappeared and the next thing she knew, a bang had erupted from the end of Noctis's pistol. He could teleport. Turning around, Haine saw that Noctis had just reappeared behind her. He had just shot straight at Takashi, who is currently faced flat on the ground. A pool of blood was forming around him.

Before she could stop herself, Haine had conjured up a long sword and ran forward at Noctis, who parried her sword with his gun. Their faces were now within an inch of each other's.

"Just as I thought you can see the light after all," said Noctis, and he smiled slightly.

Feeling annoyed at his apparent lack of response towards the fact that he had just killed someone, Haine said angrily, "What gives you the right to determine whether who lives and who dies," and as she stared straight into Noctis's eyes, she added, "This makes you no difference from the others out there who kill people as sport…"

"Do you know what the difference between a soldier and a terrorist is?" Noctis abruptly questioned, which took Haine slightly by surprise and when she remained silent, Noctis replied, "It is the desire to protect. Both individuals equally skilled in combat and battle, equipped with the same instinct and intent to kill, could almost belong under one same category. However, a fine line separates the both of them; that is a soldier has what a terrorist lacks, which is the desire to protect. In order words, you and I are no different from what you just called 'others out there who kill people as sport'…"

"Why you…" said Haine and as she conjured up a dagger in her free hand, a hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder.

"Stop it Haine," said the voice and Haine turned and saw Mr Lee. "Before we do anything we should alert the hospital. Some in this room may have been injured from the fight which broke out earlier on and Henry is injured now." Looking over at Henry's still unconscious form, Haine stopped immediately and dropped all her weapons onto the floor, remained unmoved and looked away from Noctis and Mr Lee.

As Noctis dropped his gun as well, he told Cain, "Call the ambulance," and Cain nodded and left the room at once.

"I apologise for my subordinate's misbehavior Mr Clayworth," and Mr Lee bowed his head slightly, which made Haine feel even more guilty about disregarding the fact that others may have sustained severe injuries while she continued to attack someone whom was supposedly the host of tonight's meeting.

"No worries," replied Noctis, sounding as though nothing had ever happened. "I'll be looking forward to your cooperation Mr Lee." and he smiled courteously.

Then as the paramedics finally arrived, Henry was brought onto a stretcher while a few others in the room whom have sustained minor injuries were treated with a first aid kid on board the ambulance. Mr Lee was brought to the hospital as well just in case and told Haine to go back to his building without him, leaving Victor, Cain, Noctis and her the only ones who remained in the meeting hall.

"What a way to end a meeting," said Noctis as he placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair. Haine still continued to stare blankly at the leaving ambulance as it turned around a corner and finally disappeared out of sight. Then suddenly, she heard footsteps and noticed that the man with gelled up hair and glasses from earlier on in the car had came forth. Not wanting to linger around any longer, she started to walk away.

"Want a lift?" called out Noctis and Hained stopped suddenly but did not turn around.

"Oi Noctis!" said Victor, suddenly looking alarmed.

"Her boss and partner are currently in the hospital," said Noctis, "And she doesn't look old enough to drive a car on the streets without getting hauled over by the traffic police. Since it's technically our fault that the people have ended up in the hospital let's just go an extra step and help her out…"

When Cain and Victor remained silent, Haine had turned around and said loudly while looking right at Noctis with a look of dislike on her face, "I don't need your sympathy…" After a brief moment of looking at each straight in the eyes, Haine started to walk towards the gate and left towards Mr Lee's house.

"What just happened?" asked Marco, looking slightly puzzled.

"You missed quite a few things just now," replied Victor.

"In any case," interrupted Cain, "Let's just head back to the hotel. I'm beat for the day…" and the four started to get into the car while Marco drove.

"Did you actually expect her to see the light?" asked Cain as he looked over at Noctis.

"More or less," Noctis replied, "When I first saw her I felt that she looked just way too young to be a proficient bodyguard, but the fact that Lee Jian Zhi had chosen her to replace Jackson I figured she could fight at a decent level at least… That's when I thought that she may in fact look much older than her appearance suggested which only meant one thing…"

"That she could see the light as well," answered Victor whom was polishing his rifle at the moment. "Honestly she scared me, the way she beat down Kobayashi's bodyguards like it was nothing while keeping up with that sweet and cute face of hers. But when she stopped Cain from killing off the other I was surprised though; she was the last person in the room whom I expected to have done so after we all witnessed what she had done…"

"Come to think of it her personality resembles Rufus a lot doesn't she," said Noctis as he stared out of the window, "A person who has much potential and power in his hands and yet extremely reluctant to hurt others at the same time, even if it means that he will get hurt instead…"

"You hardly pay that much attention to someone," said Cain all of a sudden, "Interested to get her to join us?"

"That's impossible," said Victor, laughing slightly, "Did you see how that girl looked when Noctis offered to give her a lift? Seeing things now it's unlikely that she will ever agree…"

"That's precisely what I was thinking," said Noctis, which made Cain and Victor turn around at him at once. Marco looked up at his mirror and stared intently at Noctis.

"You can't be serious?" said Victor, clearly astounded.

"I don't joke about matters like these," replied Noctis, "I may consider recruiting her into our team… I've been searching for another member to be on our offense team for quite some time but none seem to be suited for the job. She on the other hand may actually be relatively competent…"

"You're mad," said Victor, "Unless you want her to stab you in your sleep you would seriously reconsider your decision Noctis…"

"I never hesitate to do what I think is right," answered Noctis, sounding determined. And for the rest of the ride back to the hotel, the other three in the car continued to stay extremely quiet, apparently still unable to believe what they had just heard while Noctis was all the while continuing to stare through the window, thinking up ways to recruit Haine before he heads back to Zaieno…


	34. The King's recruit

Chapter 34

"For the final time it's a no!" said Haine loudly as she walked away.

"I won't give up till you agree to join my team," replied Noctis nonchalantly as he continued to go after her.

Both of them were in the city streets. Having been told by Mr Lee that it's her choice to stay or leave his building ever since her task had been fulfilled, Haine had accepted a sum of money from Mr Lee before leaving his place, intending to start from scratch in her journey to find her mother, Kamiya Hazuki. However, just this morning when she had just left his house and gotten ready everything to leave for her next destination, Vancouver, Noctis had been standing right outside the house, waiting for her to come out.

"I knew you would come out sooner or later," said Noctis as Haine, whom was carrying her bag and getting ready to go to the airport stopped abruptly in her footsteps, stunned at the sight of him.

"What do you want from me?" asked Haine suspiciously, with obvious dislike in her voice.

"The way you sound makes me feel as though I am the bad guy right now," said Noctis, and eyeing the slightly irritated look on Haine's face, he replied, "I want you to become my comrade and come with me to Zaieno."

"What?" said Haine at once, feeling baffled. She was sure that she had just heard that wrongly.

"I said," answered Noctis, "that I would want you to join my team and come with me to Zaieno."

"Be your lackey?" said Haine, "I don't think so…"

"Comrade, not lackey," said Noctis, who was currently staring at Haine and waiting for her answer.

After a moment of silence, Haine had suddenly spoken, "What if I refuse?" and she continued to look at him, wondering what he will use to attempt to force her to come along with him.

At first, when Noctis had placed his hand into his pocket, Haine had seriously thought that he was about to pull out a gun at her or likewise. However to her slight surprise, he merely took out his mobile phone to check a message. Staring at his phone for a moment or so, he then looked up at Haine and said, "I just received a message from Cain, our plane will be arriving tonight. In other words, I'll have until then to ask you to come along with me to Zaieno…"

"Give it up," replied Haine simply, and as she started to walk away, she continued, "You are wasting your time…"

And so as she walked on, wanting to get rid of Noctis, he had instead followed her all the way from Mr Lee's house to where she is right now, outside of Mac Donald's fast food restaurant. And when she entered through the door, she turned around instantly to check on Noctis and to her slight surprise, he had apparently given up on his attempt to follow her into the place and walked slowly out of sight. After making sure that he had gone, Haine, whom was slightly tired from walking, got a cup of refreshing ice lemon tea and proceeded to sit down at the window seat. While still staring at the door, she said to herself, "I guess he has finally given up… I'll commend him for following me this far though…" Then as she proceeded to take a sip from her cup, a voice had asked behind her, "May I take this seat?"

"Go ahead," she replied casually without turning around and continued to eye the door. After a few seconds however, the person who just sat down beside her had asked, "Decided on going to Zaieno yet?" and as Haine looked around at once, to her profound shock, it was Noctis whom was currently having a sip from his cup of Pepsi. A tray consisting of a double cheeseburger and a packet of fries is laid in front of him.

"You are honestly mad, to teleport inside this place when you are still standing in a public area," said Haine, sounding half astounded and half irritated.

Noctis, whom was currently unwrapping his cheeseburger and taking a small bite from it, replied, "I said earlier on didn't I, I'll get you to join me by the end of the day… and besides, I was sure that no one had been looking when I teleported into this place…" And as he proceeded to touch his fries, Haine was staring at him with an utmost curious and strange expression on her face.

Noticing her gaze, Noctis turned towards Haine and asked, "You want some?" and he offered Haine some fries, to which she refused and answered, "You know… It may be strange of me to say this but I often picture kings to reside and dine in extremely grand places with red carpeted floors and beautiful golden, diamond lights hanging from the ceiling… A fast food restaurant will be the last place on my list that I would expect a king to eat at…"

"You've been indulging in way too many fairytales," replied Noctis, and he sounded slightly amused. "If you actually bothered to check the calendar this morning you'll realize that this is the 21st century not ancient roman times…"

"It can't be helped can it," said Haine, feeling slightly embarrassed, "This is my first time meeting with an actual king and hearing of the country Zaieno…" and then to her sudden revelation, she had not actually in fact heard of the existence of Zaieno, until the meeting a few days ago that is…

"Why doesn't Zaieno show on the world map anyway?" asked Haine straight away, "Or maybe it doesn't even exist at all?" Back at the mansion, she had read through many variations of the world maps during sniping training and missions but was positive that she had never heard of a country by that name before…

"That's because it isn't on the world map," replied Noctis simply, and then while taking a sip of Pepsi, he continued, "And I assure you that the place does exist… except that it is a very private part of the world which wishes for absolute isolation from the rest of mankind… The technology there is loaded however, and that's what makes the economy thrive so well… I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of it until recently, ever since very few foreigners would have even known of the land…"

As Haine was further absorbed into her own thoughts, she decided that she might as well get a couple of ice cream sundaes for lunch so as to feel less hungry when she boarded the plane to Vancouver later in the evening. After she had come back to her seat, with 2 chocolate sundaes each in one hand, she proceeded to tuck in. Noctis was watching her eat all the while.

"What is it?" asked Haine as she noticed him staring at her.

"Nothing," replied Noctis, "It's just that I never expected to meet anyone else who eats only desserts for lunch…"

"You mean you know of someone else who does the same?" questioned Haine.

"Maria, Cain's sister I mean… But she's only 5 years old so little kids tend to adore sweet things to the extreme after all… You on the other hand…" and before he could finish, Noctis had burst out laughing before he could stop himself. Noticing that she was looking irritated and slightly pissed off, Noctis quickly added, "Sorry it's just that you look like an overgrown kid who hasn't walked out of her growing phase yet…"

"That's nice of you," said Haine sarcastically as she took one last bite from one of her sundaes and started on the other one. But in spite of herself, she smiled a little; it had been long since she had heard comments made about her weird eating habits.

"Hey I don't understand," said Haine abruptly, "Judging from you status and position it shouldn't be hard for you to hire strong fighters on your team so why do you insist on asking me to join?"

"Because I need a comrade not a lackey," replied Noctis, "And you fit the bill perfectly… ever since you seem to have the rebellious factor in you…"

"Rebellious factor?" asked Haine, looking slightly puzzled.

"Back at the meeting," answered Noctis, "You seemed really eager to stop us from killing Kobayashi's subordinates even if it means to disobey Mr Lee's orders and attack us… I like people like that, those with brains to think for themselves instead of overly abiding by the rules…"

"Well guess you'll be disappointed then," said Haine, almost finishing her second sundae. "I have no intention on joining anytime soon, ever since I still have to fulfill a promise to someone…"

"Such as?" asked Noctis.

"I promised someone before he died that I'll find a person by the name of Hazuki Kamiya," said Haine.

"Hazuki Kamiya?" said Noctis.

"You know her?" asked Haine at once, with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Never heard of her," replied Noctis truthfully, and Haine looked extremely disappointed. However unexpectedly, he then added, "But," and she looked up at once, "It would be a simple matter for Marco to trace out any person's location, regardless of where she may be… It may take some time though, considering that she may have possibly changed her identity and name all these years…"

"You would actually do that?" said Haine in slight surprise and at that, she wondered secretly to herself, "He may actually be nicer than I thought he was…"

"Only if you agree to join my team," answered Noctis as he stared at her, waiting for her decision.

"Knew he wouldn't be that nice…" thought Haine as she looked right back at Noctis, considering his offer.

Even if she were to travel to Vancouver next there is no guarantee that she will find her mother, and on top of that there is very well the possibility that as Noctis had said, her mother had been changing her identity constantly all these years. Disregarding the idea that she may have missed Hazuki at some point in time during her journey, there is also the chance that Hazuki may have been travelling from place to place all these while, which made it all the more unlikely that Haine will ever reach and find her on her own… And so, the answer was obvious…

"I'll agree to go to Zaieno with you," said Haine quietly, which made Noctis look up at her straight away.

"But," she suddenly added, "You must promise me that you'll find her for me as soon as possible…"

"No problem," replied Noctis at once, "Since I have agreed to your request, I will inform Marco to search for Hazuki Kamiya straight away. In return though, there is a condition…"

"What is it?" asked Haine.

"That even after you've found her, you'll agree to stay on our team till the very end. To put it simply, there's no backing out once you've join," said Noctis.

"Of course that's what I intend to do," said Haine, sounding slightly relieved. She had thought for a moment that she would be made to perform an impossible task of some sort. Then, after a few seconds or so, she suddenly added, "But are you sure there's no need for a thorough background check on me before I join? For all you know I…" but before she could continue, Noctis had cut in, "There's no need for that…" and Haine stared at him in slight surprise.

"I don't really care about your past or the things you've done before, only the present," replied Noctis. "Frankly speaking there are a number within my ranks whom haven't had an exactly clean record for as far as I know… some were once even notorious thieves and swindlers within their own towns… But regardless that's not what I'm interested in knowing…"

A few moments of silence passed by after Haine had finished her last sundae ice cream while Noctis's tray was finally emptied. Then, while getting ready to stand up from her seat, she turned over at Noctis and said with a slight smile, "You better refund my ticket to Vancouver for me…" and while smiling as well, Noctis replied, "No problem," and the two left the fast food restaurant together.


	35. Zaieno

Chapter 35

"How did you manage to convince her?" asked Victor at Noctis in bewilderment.

"With a little bit of persuasion," replied Noctis as he proceeded to lean back against his seat in the front.

The 5 of them were currently on board an airplane, with 2 pilots in front directing the plane towards Zaieno. Meanwhile, Haine was currently seated at the back, thinking to herself as she stared out of the window, "Not bad… This guy actually owns a private jet…" And as she got further absorbed into her own thoughts, thinking of how Zaieno and the people residing in it may look like, as well as when the day she can finally meet her mother may come, someone had said to her in a low voice so that only she could hear, "Listen, back at the conference there may have been some misunderstandings between us," and as Haine turned slowly towards him, she realized that it was Cain. "But," he continued, "ever since technically speaking we are going to be comrades now let's just let bygones be bygones… However if in future you were to do anything to betray Noctis then not just me, but the whole of Zaieno won't ever forgive you…"

"How very touching," replied Haine sarcastically as she turned back towards the window and continued to stare out of it. "But there's something you should know, I didn't beg for the job it's your friend right there who requested me to join the team… So before you start throwing threats at me I suggest that you reconsider that carefully, as for all I know people who tend to accuse others of betrayal are normally the traitors themselves…" and as she said so, Amber's face had immediately flashed in her mind.

"Are you calling me a traitor?" asked Cain, sounding slightly indignant now.

"I didn't," answered Haine, "Or did you just admit that yourself?"

"Listen you…" and Cain turned around straight away to make sure that the rest in front were not hearing in on their conversation, "When Noctis had suggested to let you join none of us had agreed but ever since it's his decision we said nothing… Personally speaking though I am thoroughly against someone who had just attacked us to join our team all of a sudden…"

"Well for your information I didn't even want to go to Zaieno in the first place," retorted Haine, her temper rising now, "If not for the fact that he had agreed to find a person for me I wouldn't even have the slightest intention of coming with you guys!"

"Then don't," replied Cain at once, looking somewhat irritated now. "Since you feel so resentful about coming to Zaieno then we shall just pitch you off the plane right now. Forcing someone to come along serves no purpose anyways…" and the two continued to stare at each other in dislike for a moment before both had finally looked away and kept silent. After about half an hour or so, a thought had abruptly occurred to Haine.

"Hey what do we actually do on the whole?" she asked, and the people in the front turned around at once. "I mean besides bodyguard duties or assassinations what are we suppose to do on normal days?"

Back at the mansion, she had been assigned by Rufus the occupation of a receptionist in an electronics company as her day job on her mission-free days. However, ever since she had agreed to come to Zaieno she has not yet been told what her regular job is supposed to be, apart from the fact that the main purpose of the offense team was somewhat similar to Rufus's; which is that both sides handle underworld-related issues.

"It's entirely up to you," replied Noctis, looking over at her. "For instance, Marco here chooses to work at the hospital as a doctor on normal days…"

"A doctor?" asked Haine, sounding bewildered.

"I run my own private clinic," answered Marco plainly.

"On the other hand," continued Noctis, "Victor is a freelance photographer while Cain chooses to work in the main branch bank to invest in stocks. But you though…" and Haine blinked at him, wondering what he was about to say, "You look too young to get a regular full time job... By usual standards you look like someone who ought to still be in school…"

"That's true," thought Haine to herself. The only reason she had been able to work in the company back then was because it was a private one owned by Rufus. However at the moment besides part time jobs such as a waitress in a café or likewise, she would not be able to do much for now.

"How old are you anyways?" asked Victor suddenly, and Haine stared at him. "I meant how old were you when you died and started seeing the light? Both Noctis and Cain were 21 when it happened, so that makes them old enough to do almost anything…" and at that, Haine was instantly reminded of the day when she and Zachary were on the plane to London, with Zachary saying, "…too bad you died at 16 eh, if you had stopped ageing when you were over 21 like me you could have an access to more things…"

"I'm 16 years old," answered Haine, "at least that's how old I was when I died the first time…"

"16?" burst out Victor in disbelief, but Noctis placed his hand on Victor's shoulder to stop him from saying anything else and told Haine, "Frankly speaking our day jobs are only to entertain ourselves… If you don't find it necessary then there's no need to get one either… But in any case you can take your time to decide when you arrive in Zaieno…"

"Right…" said Haine, who seemed considerably more tense than she was a moment ago.

"Dying at the age of 16? What on earth could she have done to get herself killed at that age?" said Victor as he shook his head.

"I don't really understand why you sound so surprised Victor," said Cain, "Noctis and I happened to die at 21 when our motorcycles crash into the sea while we were escaping from some guys who were trying to kill us… That is to say that this world is full of dangerous people and it doesn't matter how old you are; you have an equal chance of dying just as anyone else out there does…"

"Our circumstances differed slightly back then Cain," replied Noctis, "Back then after my father had died everyone was after the throne… It's no wonder that many would be awaiting the chance the kill me when they could…"

"How are you sure that she isn't such a complicated individual either?" questioned Cain, "Or perhaps even more so…" Before Noctis could speak however, Haine who had been hearing in all these while had cut in.

"Look," she said, sounding slightly annoyed now, "If you are really that against me then by all means just check up on me…"

"Rest assured I will," replied Cain coldly.

"Man…" said Victor as he placed his hand over his head, "We are off to rough start aren't we?"

Noctis remained silent while he continued to stare out of the window. After a moment or so, he spoke to everyone on board, "We are reaching." And Haine looked through the window immediately.

"Hey this place looks awfully familiar," burst out Haine before she could help it. She was sure she had seen somewhere similar to this place before, especially the buildings and entire vibe which the town gave off.

"It's modeled after Shinjuku, Japan," answered Noctis, looking over at her.

"Yea of course!" she thought to herself at once. And as she looked down at the buildings, a sudden nostalgic feeling ran over her; it felt as though she was back in Japan again. Placing her hands against the glass window, she continued to stare out of it with keenness and clearly much more enthusiasm than before, hoping to have a quick glance at the people in the city who looked like mere tiny dots from up in the plane.

"Why is this place sculpted to be like Tokyo?" Haine abruptly asked without switching her gaze away from the window.

"One of my ancestors came from Japan," replied Noctis. "You seem really interested in Zaieno now, is there a reason for it?" and as he said so, he continued to look at Haine.

"That's because I came from Japan as well," answered Haine, "Well you can probably guess it from my name though… it's been a while since I've been back at Japan, for a couple of years at least… Seeing Zaieno's resemblance to it makes me feel really pleased and relieved somehow…"

"We're landing," said Marco, "Grab onto your seats tightly…"

And sure enough, the tiny dots in the buzzing city were getting bigger and more visible while the plane continued to descend. As the details got finer and finer, Haine suddenly realized that they were landing on an extremely big, black stony area. And to her sudden revelation, she noticed that the big stony area actually belonged to the top of what appeared to be an enormous fortress.

"You actually live in a castle?" questioned Haine in bewilderment as she looked at Noctis, finally taking her eyes away from the window.

"Where else do you expect a king to live?" replied Noctis casually.

"But I thought you said that 21st century kings are unlike ancient roman kings," said Haine, still unable to be convinced that the person in front of her actually lived in such a huge and seemingly prehistoric building. She would have been thoroughly impressed if Noctis had actually lived in a mansion similar to Rufus's back in London, but to live in an actual castle? That is just a whole different dimension altogether…

"And what's up with that?" asked Noctis, looking slightly amused at the shocked look on Haine's face now, "I only said that your idea of a king is way too old fashioned… But it's entirely up to me to decide where and what I live in…"

"Come on let's get out," said Marco, "The plane has landed." And the 5 got out of the jet while a square area in the ground suddenly split and opened up neatly into 2, enabling the 2 pilots on the plane to park it aside within the castle.

"You guys head back first," said Noctis as he looked over at the Victor, Cain and Marco, "I'll show her around…" And turning away from him, the three proceeded down the stairs at the side, leaving Haine and Noctis alone.

"Where are we going?" asked Haine as she struggled to keep up with Noctis as he started to walk away.

"Around town of course," replied Noctis and before she knew it, they were both on the streets of Zaieno.

Taking the opportunity to glance around, she observed that people within the city were extremely diverse; people with different skin and eye colours were interacting with each other casually and families with interracial couples and their children were dining at various restaurants. The restaurants on the other hand, served almost any cuisine of food which one could think of, and some even a fusion of many placed together. The fashion shops down the streets sold all sorts of clothing, inclusive of many traditional costumes across many races placed into several single shops. In addition, the spontaneity and vibrancy of the people's attitudes gave Haine the plain impression that Zaieno was simply the closest place to an ultimate utopia which could be found on Earth; a place without discrimination and unnecessary animosity towards one another, only love, concern and peace.

"Hey you are heading the wrong direction," called out Noctis as he looked back at Haine, whom was currently lost in her thoughts. Noticing that there was a huge gap between Noctis and her, she hurried forward to catch up with him and the two eventually entered a region filled with countless numbers of food booths consisting of different varieties of foods.

"Is there a festival ongoing or something?" asked Haine as she looked around in amazement.

"Not exactly," replied Noctis, "this is just a part of town which is famous for its assortment of food… there are desserts as well…" and at that, Haine's eyes instantly brightened up, "so you can take a look around and get something to chew on while you're at it…"

Without needing to be told twice, Haine went from stall to stall and sampled almost every single thing she could get her hands on, mainly all desserts. At a certain booth which sold ice cream, customers were allowed to blend almost any ingredients into a single cup; with the only condition that it must be safe for consumption.

"What a glutton…" thought Noctis as he looked over at Haine, whom was now earnestly blending in a mixture of berries, a few Oreo cookies and a couple of other ingredients into the cup filled with creamy vanilla ice cream. Then, after a minute or so when she had left the stall, she walked towards Noctis with 2 cups in her hands. Handling a cup over to Noctis, she said cheerfully, "You want one? I made servings for 2…"

"You sure this is edible?" asked Noctis as he looked down at the cup filled with a mixture of colours. It looked extremely suspicious.

"How rude," said Haine as she got ready her spoon, "I may not look like it but I have an affinity with not only eating but making desserts as well… Blending ice cream ingredients together is as easy as apple pie for me…"

Still not convinced that the ice cream was safe for consumption, Noctis continued to stare at Haine as she took a scoop of the ice cream and placed it slowly into her month. After a second or so, her face had split into a wide grin of utmost delight and pleasure.

"This is one of the most wonderful things I've ever tasted in my life!" exaggerated Haine as she proceeded to take another scoop. Finally deciding to take a risk, Noctis ate a small scoop of it as well.

"Not bad," said Noctis, sounding impressed, "Though it does taste pretty weird with all the overloading ingredients…"

By the time the two had finished walking through the entire area, it was already late evening and Noctis proceeded to take Haine to the park nearby. After a few moments of serene silence while the two were standing by the river fence, Haine suddenly spoke, "You aren't that nice to just bring me around town to eat are you?"

"That's pretty observant of you," replied Noctis, "When did you realize?"

"From the very beginning," answered Haine, "There are at least 3 snipers stationed at the area, their aura was unmistakable… I assume they work for you?"

"That's right," said Noctis indifferently, "I wanted to test how fast it took for you to sense them and just as I expected of you, you did a splendid job in not only noticing their presence at once but naming the exact number of snipers as well…"

"I thought there were only 2 at first though," admitted Haine, "But I noticed a sudden reflective glimmer from one of the rifles back when I was at the booth which sold cakes… One of the three was extremely skilled at concealing his presence apparently…"

"That was Victor actually," said Noctis and Haine looked up in slight surprise, "Although he seems goofy and laid back most of the time I can safely say that he is the most skillful sniper I've ever met till this day…"

"There is something disturbing which I wanted to ask you ever since the moment we left the castle grounds and came onto the streets," added Haine, looking more serious now, "I sensed as though someone had been eyeing us constantly but I can't seem to pinpoint that person's location…"

"You really are impressive," said Noctis as he smiled, "To be able to spot that as well… That was most likely Cain. You haven't heard of his ability he gained from seeing the light yet haven't you?" Haine shook her head.

"He can use objects as a medium to observe people from far," replied Noctis, and noticing the confused look on Haine, he added, "For instance, if a person were to be near water, as long as Cain physically keeps in contact with water itself, he would be able to see and observe the person's every movement. There is a limit however, that is the person must be within a 1 kilometer radius of his own location. Any further and he wouldn't be able to use his abilities…"

"So that's why you were so eager on keeping me around this area," said Haine and at that, she had suddenly realized that earlier on when Noctis had told her that she was heading towards the wrong direction he was in fact merely afraid that she may have gotten out of range of Cain's observation scope.

"You've passed the test though," said Noctis with a satisfied voice, "with flying colours… Guess that marks off the end of today then… Let's head back to the castle, I'm feeling pretty exhausted now, don't you?"

"Yea, like really exhausted…" said Haine as she stifled a yawn and followed Noctis as he started to walk away.

"You are really one sneaky guy you know that," said Haine as they continued to walk on, "Telling your comrades to return ahead of you right in front of me when all of you had intended on testing me together from the very beginning…"

"Sorry about that," said Noctis, who sounded not the least bit sorry at all, "But that's how we do things at Zaieno so get used to it…"

"I don't have a choice do I?" replied Haine, who smiled despite herself and continued to walk on and on, until they have finally reached the castle gates and entered, all prepared to take a well deserved rest for the night…


	36. Major dilemma

Chapter 36

Despite the castle's ancient appearance on the surface, the interior however, had nothing ancient about it at all, as Haine has noticed for the past week that she has been living in the castle. First and foremost, the whole inner part of the place was fitted with a weather regulator device. Apparently, the climate and temperature of the castle was literally changing every single day. On certain days it can be snowing moderately within the place with temperature set to range from around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius, which is a huge contrast to the natural tropical climate of Zaieno. On other days however, the temperature would be around 20 degrees Celsius instead with a big bright sun over the castle's ceiling. The ceiling on the other hand, was somewhat like a fake imitation of the sky outside, except for the fact that it was able to change its mode to snowy, sunny etc. depending on the weather for the day.

The other inner parts of the castle had an extremely modern vibe to it, with escalators and lifts imbued in many places. At the basement, there was even an underground inbuilt aquarium which housed basically any kind of fish one could think of. And when asked by Haine what the purpose of that feature was, Victor replied that it was simply for leisure enjoyment whereby during Noctis's free time, he could spend up to 2 hours at that place to observe the marine life and calm himself down.

On the other hand, a group of men dressed in business suits constantly entered and exited the place once every 2 days. Eventually though, as Haine noticed, they were merely present to discuss about Zaieno's progress and situation with Noctis. In order words, the castle was somewhat like the government headquarters of the place.

Despite being thoroughly impressed by the various features of the building, by the end of the seventh day whereby Haine had at least explored most parts of the castle for no less than 20 times, she was finally numb and used to the magnificent technology of this place. No task had been assigned to her yet it appears, and she has not specifically decided on which occupation she will be most suited for during her regular days. Not wanting to feel bored and inefficient however, she was determined to find something productive to do. On one morning just when she was about to head to the streets and check out the available jobs, she heard some voices of women at one far end of the castle. On closer observation, she realized that 4 women in plain dresses were surrounding a little girl with braids. The girl was pouting her lips and crossing her arms, looking extremely displeased.

"Come on Ms Ashford, you know very well that Sir Noctis is always busy with issues of Zaieno... It can't be helped that he is not free to accompany you now…"

"I don't care! These few days I've been extremely bored… My brother isn't back yet and even Noctis is too busy to play with me..."

"What do you want to play Ms Ashford? We'll try our best to accommodate…"

"You're no fun at all!"

And as the girl said so, she proceeded to sit on the floor with her legs crossed and refused to move away from the spot.

"What a troublesome young lady…" thought one of the women to herself, but before she could attempt to convince the girl to go back to her room again, the 3 other women were shrieking slightly, which made her turn around at once to find out what was going on.

Apparently, Haine had come forth and seized the girl by the sides of her cheek with both her hands and stretched them out to as wide as possible, causing the girl to scream and her eyes to water in pain.

"Hey stop it!" said one of the women.

"What a horrible person!" said the other.

However, Haine continued to ignore them and stared down at the girl with a cold expression on her face. After a few seconds when she had finally let go, the girl had stopped screaming and was rubbing her cheeks, which looked pink and swollen now.

"Did you think," said Haine in monotonous voice, "that someone would automatically come to your rescue just because you are crying and screaming for help?" and the girl looked surprised but still remained silent and continued to look at Haine.

"If that is so then you are hopeless and pathetic," continued Haine who then proceeded to stand up and walk away.

"What a thing to do to a little girl," said a woman whom clasp a hand over her mouth.

"Yea, after all Ms Ashford here is the sister of Sir Noctis's best friend, to think that she would show such disrespect it's just…" but before the other woman could finish her sentence, the girl had cut in and asked eagerly, "Who is that big sister just now?"

"I heard that she just came here not long ago," replied one of the women, "On the offense team I think…"

"A person like her on Sir Noctis's offense team? That's impossible!" said the other in disbelief.

While the four were still debating about who Haine really was, the girl continued to stare blankly at the direction which Haine had gone off.

"What on earth was I doing," Haine asked herself as she was walking on the streets and passed by many shops such as cafés, restaurants, massage parlors and many others, but none which she felt was sustainable as a job for someone like her. "Back then I just felt really pissed off when I saw that girl, thinking that she could bully everyone around her using her tears… it really reminds me a lot of how I used to be, back when I was living in the village with Juuri and Kyousuke… Even then I was such a spoilt brat, but they always gave in to whatever I want, never complaining even a single time…" and at that, she felt her eyes sting a little and felt incredibly stupid for feeling the urge the cry.

"Stop it," she told herself at once and resisted the tears in her eyes from trickling down. "They are already dead, and nothing can change that fact… The only thing I can do now is to fulfill Kyousuke's last wish…" and at that, with much effort she finally managed to hold back the tears in her eyes.

After walking about for an hour or so, she sat down on a bench, feeling exhausted. It was high noon, the hottest time of the day.

"Wish I'm back at the castle now," she told herself as she wiped off the sweat from her forehead, "At least it's snowy and cooling in there… Not like sunny and 32 degrees Celsius out here…"

After briefly glancing at the little children whom were surrounding a fountain and splashing water at each other in joy, she proceeded to open up the little notebook she had in her hands.

"So far from what I've seen here," she said to herself, "I guess the best option would be to try out as a sales assistant in the supermarket… After all it's just replacing stocks on the shelf, a simple job for anyone I suppose… Guess I'll try it out someday then…" and as she stood up and started to head back, she saw from a distance that someone was running towards her. As the figure got closer and closer, she realized that it was the girl from before. The two stared at each other for a while before the girl finally spoke while blushing slightly, "I am Maria, and… and…" but she seemed to have trouble finding her voice.

"Maria?" asked Haine suddenly. "You are Cain's sister aren't you?" and that girl looked up at once.

"You know my brother?" she asked curiously.

"Yea," replied Haine, "He's that arrogant blond jerk…" and at that Maria chuckled, which took Haine slightly by surprise.

"This is the first time I've heard someone describe my brother that way," she replied.

"Yea well that's a personal factual account," answered Haine, who smiled slightly. "Anyways what are you doing out here on your own?"

"I wanted to find you," said Maria at once, "so that I can ask you if you could be my friend…"

Haine kept quiet and continued to stare at Maria.

"I have never had anyone I could sincerely connect to before," added Maria, "Adults would all just think that I am troublesome but never say it out loud and continue to act differently on the surface towards me… Even when it was a fact that my parents had heartlessly abandoned my brother and I adults around were still constantly throwing pretty words at me, telling me otherwise… But just now, when you told me whether I thought that someone would automatically come to my rescue just because I was crying and screaming for help, you saw right through me… No one had ever told me the honest truth before, not even my brother… That's why," and Maria said with a determined voice, "Please be my friend!"

Placing one hand on her head and patting her gently, Haine replied, "Of course I will… Everyone in Zaieno belongs to one big group of friends isn't it?" and Maria made a wide grin at once.

"How cute…" thought Haine as she stared down at Maria, whom was now taking Haine's hand while the two carried on to browse through many dessert stalls.

"Are you able to see the light too?" asked Maria as the two were currently sampling blueberry pies. And pausing for a moment, Haine nodded.

"There's nothing great about it though," added Haine when she noticed the familiar look of admiration which many gave her when she revealed that fact, "If I could I would rather have been left with no choice but to die at that time, since it would have been much more relaxing for me…"

"Oh," answered Maria, who seemed more hesitant to ask any further after noticing the slightly glum expression on Haine's face. "I was very young when my parents abandoned my brother and I so I hardly felt any attachments to them, which made it kind of hard for me to feel anything… But back then though, when I've received the news that my brother and Noctis had died in an accident, it was the first time I had truly experienced the sadness from losing 2 people whom I've treasured the most dearly...I honestly thought for a second that I would never see them again… But when they miraculously came back to life it was indescribable relief that I felt… So for whoever granted them the ability to see the light, I am forever thankful… And I think you should too Haine… It's because of that that you're alive right now…"

"You must be really close to your brother and Noctis to feel so much for them," answered Haine, who tried her best to avoid questioning herself whether choosing to come back to life back then had been the best choice or not.

"My brother and Noctis grew up together," replied Maria merrily, "And Noctis often buys back candies for me whenever he comes back abroad… Although I'm still a little kid now but someday," and Maria had an extremely firm look on her face, "I'll marry Noctis and live happily ever after with him! Just like the kings and queens in fairytales…"

"Are those really the thoughts of someone her age…?" Haine could not help but wonder in bewilderment as Maria was still currently engrossed in her fantasy world.

"Do you have a boyfriend then Haine?" asked Maria abruptly and Haine suddenly dropped her spoon and stared down at the table in silence; she had instinctively thought of Zachary.

"Used to," replied Haine, who still did not look up.

"How was he like?" asked Maria at once, sounding excited and eager to know more.

"He is an extremely gentle and kind person," replied Haine quietly, "But we aren't together anymore…"

"Why?" questioned Maria.

"Lots of things happened and he probably hates me now," said Haine, and not wanting to intrude any further, Maria kept quiet and proceeded to finish up the rest of the cakes and pies laid out on the table. Feeling bloated from the desserts, the pair finally started to head back to the castle.

"I've had lots of fun today," said Maria as the both of them had finally arrived. "Hope we can hang out again some other time…"

"We will," replied Haine and she made a smile at Maria, "But for now let's just turn in for the day, I'm sure the people here must be feeling worried that you ran out all of a sudden…"

"Ok," said Maria, "My brother is most likely back at our compartment right now..."

"I'll walk you there," said Haine. And after they have taken the lift to the second storey and one escalator up, they have arrived outside a door. Taking her keys out, Maria opened the door at once and to Haine's slight surprise, not only Cain, but also Noctis, was there as well.

Upon noticing that both Haine and Maria had arrived, the two in the room turned towards the pair. There was a few seconds of silence before Cain had without warning, ran forward and gripped onto Haine's collar and pushed her roughly to the wall.

"What are you…" but before Haine could finish, Cain had interrupted, his voice sounded extremely angry, "I knew you weren't such a simple person… Took us for a fool didn't you?" As Haine continued to stare at him in confusion, Maria immediately lunged forward and grabbed onto her brother's leg, saying loudly, "Stop it! Haine's my friend!" and Cain looked down at her in slight surprise. But before he could say anything however, Noctis had come forth and placed a hand onto Cain's shoulder and told him, "Calm down Cain, we still haven't heard the whole story yet…"

And while Haine and Cain continued to stare into each other's eyes, Cain had finally let go of her.

"Wait outside first Maria," said Noctis, and after giving a last look at the 3, Maria reluctantly left the room and closed the door behind her.

"What's going on here?" asked Haine straight away, whom still felt very astounded by Cain's sudden aggression.

"Remember when I said that I'll check up on you no matter what," said Cain as he continued to stare at Haine, his face was absolutely antagonistic, "So I did… You used to work for Rufus didn't you?"

"You know Rufus?" questioned Haine with a shocked look on her face. She had clearly not been expecting this.

"He was my father's best friend," replied Noctis, who continued to look indifferent.

"That's right," said Cain, "And we happened to be the ones who informed him about the location of the stolen drugs back at Mexico City as well as back in China. When we heard that it slipped through their hands again we just couldn't believe it… But after doing a thorough background check on you, I found out that you were the one who had abandoned his team back in Shanghai… And what's more, you actually killed one of their members… Did you really think that you could get near us just to betray us like what you once did to Rufus? Sadly the way we do things here aren't as merciful as Rufus does things back in London…"

"You don't understand anything at all!" said Haine loudly, "I wasn't the one who had betrayed them, it was someone else… You've got to believe me… I never intended to join you guys to betray you or anything, I merely wanted to find a person through your connections…"

"Then why didn't you tell Rufus that?" asked Noctis, who did not look exactly angry or upset, in fact, Haine could not precisely tell what expression Noctis had on at the moment. "If you knew who the traitor was you should have gone back and told him…"

"I can't ever go back there anymore," answered Haine quietly, "But it's up to you to believe me whether I've betrayed him or not… Regardless though I guess at this point in time there won't be any meaning in staying here ever since you guys don't trust me…" And at that, she ran out of the room immediately and headed downstairs. As she passed by Maria, she was sure that she could hear her name being called but she could not bear to turn back anymore and just kept on running. After she was finally out of breathe, she stopped and looked around, not realizing where she had been heading to amidst her confusion. Apparently, she had unknowingly entered the basement aquarium.

Although she had happened to chance upon it before while exploring the castle, it was the first time that Haine had truly observed closely the marine life which was kept here.

"If I were a fish in here then I wouldn't be so troubled now would I?" she asked herself quietly as she continued to stare at the fishes. "Just when I thought that I was finally about to meet my mother and this kind of things just had to happen…"

While she was currently eyeing two groups of fishes which were blue and yellow respectively, she suddenly heard footsteps coming towards the other side of the basement. Conjuring up two daggers in her hands, she waited for the person to come towards her and as expected, it was Noctis.

"You came to kill me?" asked Haine, sounding collected and calm. She was not prepared to die for any reason, at least not before she could find her mother. Regardless of whom it was she would fight all the way to prevent herself from getting killed.

"Not exactly," replied Noctis, who showed no signs of taking out any weapons despite the fact that Haine was at present in a position ready to strike anytime. "I just wanted to hear the full story but you ran out before telling the rest of it…"

"You actually believe me?" asked Haine as she lowered her weapons slightly.

"I can't determine whether I believe you or not," replied Noctis, whom was now observing the fishes by the side, "Not until you explain to me what's going on. Care to begin from where you stopped just now? When you said that someone else had betrayed the team, who was it?"

"Amber," said Haine, "Amber Lockhart. She tried to get me killed back in Mexico City by leaking our information to the mastermind behind the drugs, Sousuke Hiou… Then later on in Shanghai she was the one who had killed Sarah, she was with us as well, but she happened to discover Amber sneaking the goods off to somewhere else so Amber attempted to silence her… I tried to stop her then, but it was too late and she shot at me, and after that the next thing I knew I was in Mr Lee's house…"

"Why did Amber Lockhart attempt to frame you?" asked Noctis.

"Because…" and Haine paused slightly, before finally continuing, "Because we both fell in love with Zachary… And she resented me for that… But I never knew that she would go so far…"

"If what you said is true then I am sure that if you have told Rufus what was going on…" but before Noctis could finish, Haine had cut in, "I said just now didn't I… I can no longer return back to London and face him anymore…"

"Why is that so?" asked Noctis, still looking at the fishes.

"He is my father," answered Haine quietly, which made Noctis turn around at once. For the first time since she had returned with Maria, there was an expression of utmost surprise on his face.

"I never knew he had a daughter," said Noctis, who continued to look at Haine as though she was some kind of bizarre creature.

"Neither did I," admitted Haine, "Until Amber had revealed to me about the fact that Rufus had an affair with another woman and bore me… I always thought that my father was dead and that my mother had left me in the fish village because she had no choice… But I guess it isn't all that simple… Rufus had abandoned my mother when she was still pregnant with me, and that's why," Haine stopped for a while to find her voice again, "I can never go back to London to face him once more… I don't think I can stop myself from snapping at him and running at him if I ever see him again…"

"Your mother… Could she be the one you are searching for right now?" asked Noctis. And Haine, while turning back and looking at the fishes, nodded slightly.

"I see," replied Noctis, and while the two continued to eye the aquarium for a few minutes or so, Noctis had abruptly spoken, "That's nonsense…" which made Haine turned at him straight sway. She looked slightly indignant.

"You think I am lying?" demanded Haine.

"That's not what I meant," said Noctis quickly, "I was referring to when you said that Rufus had abandoned your mother when she was still pregnant. I've known him for many years, ever since I was still a little kid he and my father had been best buddies long before I could remember… And I can safely say that he would not ever abandon his own child no matter what…"

"Well that's the kind of person I thought he was," said Haine bitterly, "Not until I learned that he was actually my father…"

"The things you have heard about your parentage have always been through others," answered Noctis calmly, "Though you may not like it but I suggest you see him face to face and question him directly… For all you know there are still many things you are unsure about and it's not good to make conclusions before that…"

"See him face to face?" replied Haine in bewilderment, "So disregarding the fact that I may actually accidentally punch the lights out of him upon our next meeting how do you suppose I get past everyone at his mansion and face him directly once more? Everyone in the mansion now knows of me as a traitor, it won't be a friendly welcome when I get back there…"

"There is a way," said Noctis, and Haine looked up at him straight away, "About 4 days from now there would be a conference held in London, regarding Sousuke Hiou… That guy is to be gotten rid of as soon as possible due to his production of illegal drugs. We will be discussing plans to apprehend him, that is to say that Rufus, myself and 2 others will be present at one of the meeting areas at a hotel… Rufus will most likely bring along 2 of his assistants while for the rest of us it will be optional to bring along someone or not… I had originally intended to go there with Marco only but looking at things now I think that I can actually bring you in as well… So do you want to give it a go?"

Still at a loss of words, Haine continued to stare at Noctis. She had certainly not expected that she would be able to meet Rufus or anyone in the mansion this soon again.

"I..." and Haine closed her mouth again, unable to give a definite reply.

"You don't have to decide right now," said Noctis as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "You can use the whole of tomorrow to think about it… On a side note however, you are honestly really a terrible comrade you know that…" and Haine twitched slightly in surprise, "You did swear that no matter what happens there is no backing out once you've join our team remember? So whatever you said just now about leaving here or not wanting to stay here any longer will be disregarded, whether you like it or not…" and at that, Noctis smiled slightly at her.

And as he walked away while Haine remained in the basement to think through her decision carefully, she suddenly called out to Noctis just as he was about to disappear out of sight, "Thank you Noctis... for believing in me…" And after pausing for a moment or so, without turning his back, he waved his hand up and went away, leaving Haine to feel for the first time that being part of his team may not have been such an unwilling option for her after all…


	37. Once again we meet but

Chapter 37

"I will go to London with you…to see Rufus…"

It had been 2 days since then, when Haine had finally made the decision to go with Noctis and Marco to London. It had taken much courage and effort over the past days to finally decide to confront Rufus about her parentage. After Noctis had explained to Cain Haine's recount, Cain had stubbornly kept his suspicions about Haine and refused to apologize to her until he could confirm what had truly happened. Despite Cain's persistent coldness and aloofness towards her, Haine had however more things to worry about at hand. For once, in 3 hours time, Noctis, Marco and Haine would be arriving in London and Haine, in spite of having done as much mental preparation as she could for the past few days, practicing with Maria about how she should react in front of Rufus, at present though she still had not much confidence in keeping herself composed in front of him.

While clutching her fingers together tightly and staring down at her shoes, she tried her best to clear her mind and distract herself with other thoughts but to no avail; her heart had been beating abnormally fast since last night.

"You look kind of pale," said Marco abruptly, and Haine looked up at once in surprise, snapping out of her trance. "Are you all right?"

"Yea I'm fine, thanks," replied Haine, whom was now clenching her hands so tightly together that both her hands now bore marks made by her finger nails.

"You should drink something to calm yourself down," said Noctis, whom was looking over at Haine now. "This plane won't reach London until 3 hours later… You will wreck yourself with anxiety before you even arrive at the hotel at this rate…" and as he said so, he proceeded to open the mini-fridge on his right and took out a can of Coca Cola. "Here," he said as he placed it into Haine's hands.

However, instead of drinking the can of Coca Cola, Haine had without warning grabbed over Noctis's glass instead and gulped down its contents, startling both Marco and Noctis.

"Is there anymore?" Haine asked eagerly as she looked over at the both.

"Hey is it really a good idea to let her drink alcohol at this time?" asked Marco, who was still looking at Haine whom seemed slightly out of order at the moment.

"Just let her be," replied Noctis as he proceeded to hold up a bottle of red wine and filled Haine's cup up to the brim. Then, ignoring the fact that she was not used to its bitter taste, Haine swallowed down the wine forcefully as though it was mere plain water…

"It really does taste as horrible as I've expected," said Haine, and at that she had an extremely revolted expression on her face. "But at least I feel much better than a few minutes ago… Thanks…" After guzzling down about 2 more cups of wine, Haine finally stopped and sat still on her seat, gradually closing her eyes and then drifting off to a nap…

"Guess she finally stopped drowning her sorrows eh?" said Marco whom proceeded to take a sip from his cup of peppermint tea.

"Seems like it," replied Noctis, whom was now filling his own cup to the brim with wine. Just as he was about to drink it however, Marco had interrupted, "You shouldn't drink so much either… Once we've arrived in London the meeting will start anytime soon… and you are one of the main characters during the conference too…"

"Relax Marco," answered Noctis, "It's still about 6 hours before we arrive in London… and besides," he said as he looked over at Haine whom is asleep right now, "Unlike her I've plenty of experience in drinking…"

"That's true," admitted Marco. "By the way, when Cain had checked up on her, I was the one who had supplied him with all the resources he needed so I know a huge part of this girl's background as well…"

"What about that?" asked Noctis.

"The village she used to reside in at Kyushu… It was massacred by Sousuke Hiou… It seems that she certainly has a lot of things ongoing about her that we aren't sure of…" said Marco, who then stared over at Haine's sleeping form.

"It doesn't matter," replied Noctis, seemingly unconcerned. "Everyone has a part of his or her past which he or she prefers not to share with others… And I would prefer if you and Cain stop checking up on her any further, it is discourteous of you guys to deliberately check up on someone unnecessarily…"

And for the next few hours on the plane, there was utter silence while Marco and Noctis were looking out of their windows, both of them deep in their own thoughts. Then abruptly, someone had spoken, "Who are the two accompanying Rufus?" Turning around, Noctis noticed that it was Haine who had just woken up.

"It wasn't mentioned," replied Noctis, "But knowing him it will likely be among the usual group of people whom he can trust…" and at that, Haine suddenly felt her stomach drop. The only most probable pair whom she could think of consisted of Vincent and Zachary. Despite the fact that she was reluctant to face either of them, Haine however was feeling slightly eager to see Zachary again, regardless of how his reaction may be towards her unexpected appearance. While trying to think of what she should say to Zachary upon their encounter, she suddenly noticed the Houses of the Parliament coming into view beneath the thin clouds.

"We are arriving soon Sir Noctis," said one of the pilots in front.

After about 10 minutes or so, the plane started to descend rapidly and landed somewhere on an empty field.

"We'll be back on this same spot at the end of the day," said Marco and as the pilots prepared to take off once again, they each gave a respectful nod before departing off.

"Ready?" asked Noctis as he looked over at Haine. "The hotel is no more than a few steps away from where we are now…"

After staring at the hotel for a moment or so with an expressionless look on her face, Haine nodded slightly and the 3 started to head inside. Taking the lift, they proceeded to the 9th floor whereby they arrived in front of 2 doors.

"The meeting room's here," said Marco as he walked forward and knocked on the right door. When he twisted the door knob and pushed it slightly open, a voice had spoken out, "I'm guessing Noctis has arrived." and sure enough, Noctis went in front of both of them and was the first to enter the room.

"Long time no see," said Noctis as he smiled and shook the blond man's hand. It was Rufus, who looked exactly the same as the last time when Haine had seen him.

"The same goes for you," said Rufus as he smiled back and then added, "You should invite your two other subordinates in as well…" and he made way for Marco and Haine to enter.

As Marco walked past Rufus, Marco made a respectful nod towards him before proceeding to sit beside Noctis at the table. However, the moment Haine had entered the room, Rufus had an expression of utmost astonishment on his face. Though not looking exactly pleased or upset, he continued to open the door for Haine as she walked past him, with Haine all the while maintaining a monotonous look on her face. After finally settling down beside Noctis while Rufus closed the door to return back to his own seat, Haine looked up and observed the room closely for the first time. It was carpeted and fairly spacious. 2 other main figures were sitting in the room besides Rufus and Noctis. They had no assistants with them. At Rufus's table however, was Rufus and 2 other men. One of them was Zachary, as expected, the other however, to Haine's slight surprise was Sebastian instead of Vincent whom Haine originally thought Rufus would bring along. Noticing Haine's gaze on him, Zachary looked back at her. Contrary to expectations however, Zachary did not seem to have much emotion on his face either. While Haine was trying her best to keep her face composed and still and all the while wrestling with the emotions inside her, Zachary continued to look at her for a few seconds coldly before looking away. On the other hand, Sebastian seemed to have recognized Haine and looked at her briefly before looking away as well.

"Let the meeting start," said Rufus who looked over at everyone and as his eyes got a glimpse of Haine, they lingered on her for a fraction of a second longer than the rest before looking down at the desk.

For the next hour or so, the silence was so suffocating for Haine that she was surprised that she was able to control herself from running out of the room but instead continued to stay still on the chair beside Noctis.

"…and so to completely subdue that man, Sousuke Hiou, we should first use a bait to lure him out, create the false impression that it's safe to take any course of action while slowly luring him into a trap…" one of the other men had said.

"That's too risky," said the other man, and he shook his head. "There's no confirming that we won't fall into his trap either… For now the most important thing is not to subdue him but cease his distribution of his drugs instead. As we are speaking right now, he has most likely distributed it to no less than a quarter of the world's population."

"The main reason why these drugs are dangerous is because of the fact that it displays different characteristics in different individuals, such as vampirism or blood coagulation as well as altering one's perspective of reality. At present though there is no definite way to prevent these characteristics from showing itself in infected individuals, however the medical advancement in Zaieno will be sufficient in creating counter measure vaccines to purge these drugs out of a victim's body across a long period of time. I believe that's the least we can do for now, and so…" but before Noctis could finish his sentence, someone else had cut in, "I don't really understand the purpose of our discussion right now," and everyone proceeded to turn around. It was Zachary who spoke.

"Pardon?" asked Noctis, who stared at Zachary for the first time since he entered this room.

"I mean to say that instead of carrying out an all out negotiation here," replied Zachary who continued to look expressionless, "I think that asking that woman next to you what Sousuke Hiou's next course of actions are would be way more effective… That way we can efficiently counter his moves and…" but before Zachary could continue, Rufus had spoken, "Stop it Zachary, not now…"

A few others in the room had turned over at Haine and looked at her with a curious expression on their faces. Haine kept silent and stared at Zachary with a slightly surprised look but otherwise composed.

"Shall we have a short intermission before continuing?" interrupted Noctis, and while almost everyone had stood up and headed out of the room, only Rufus, Zachary, Noctis and Haine remained. Marco turned back briefly as he reached the door, but Noctis merely told him quietly, "It's fine," before Marci headed out and joined the rest. Rufus was the one who spoke first.

"I see you have gotten yourself another member," he said.

"That's right," replied Noctis, "Haine is on my offense team."

"I thought that you were supposed to be the King of Zaieno," said Zachary, sounding slightly sarcastic. Haine clenched her fist tightly.

"And so I am," answered Noctis, sounding indifferent.

"Then your judgment most certainly fails you," said Zachary simply, "To have chosen someone like that woman to be on your team." Rufus made a slight twitching movement with his hand but kept silent, continuing to look at Zachary.

"My own judgment has not yet failed me till this day and I hope it never will," said Noctis, looking eye to eye with Zachary now, "But unfortunately it may today…" and Haine looked up at Noctis at once, slightly taken aback at his words. "I always thought that Rufus will bring someone whom is both objective and logical to his conferences but I guess today it seems he may have been just slightly too…" But before he could finish, Haine held tightly onto Noctis's hand and looked up at him with a firm look on her face, which made Noctis stop abruptly and stared back at her for a few seconds. Then, when no one spoke, Haine let go of Noctis and turned around at Zachary, whom continued to eye her unfeelingly.

"Zachary," said Haine, trying her best to keep her voice, "I…" but before she could finish, Zachary had stepped forward instead and stopped right in front of her. However without warning, while Haine was still looking at Zachary with a concerned yet uncertain expression on her face, Zachary had hit her on the left side of the face, causing Haine's cheek to turn red. The slap echoed in the empty room and Haine had an expression of stunned surprise on her face. Raising her hand up slowly and placing her hand on the side of her hit face, she looked up at Zachary. There was an expression of unmistakable disgust and dislike on his face.

As Haine continued to stand there, momentarily rooted to the spot, Zachary had lunged forward and was about to grab hold of her with visible sparks being discharged from his hands. However at that very instant, Rufus had come forth and locked Zachary with his hands over his shoulders, preventing him from moving further.

"Get… off… me," said Zachary as he struggled to break free, but Rufus still did not let go but instead said, "Noctis, get Zachary out of this room for me please…" and Noctis nodded.

"I've got something to speak to Haine about," Rufus added to Zachary, "Will you please leave the two of us alone first Zachary?" and noticing the slight hint of lethargy in Rufus's voice, Zachary finally stopped his attempt to break free and nodded, following Noctis out of the room but not before throwing a final look of detest over at Haine and closing the door. Only Rufus and Haine were in the room now.

"Are you alright?" asked Rufus concernedly, referring to the slap that Zachary had just given her. Haine nodded quietly in response and looked up at Rufus. Then when Haine still remained silent, Rufus continued, "Why didn't you come back after the incident in Shanghai? Many people in the mansion were worried about you…"

"They believed me?" asked Haine in bewilderment.

"Many did," replied Rufus, "They refused to accept that you betrayed us… mainly Yulia and her gang of friends."

"I…" continued Haine, who found it difficult to decide what to say now, "It was…"

"Amber wasn't it?" finished Rufus for her, and Haine stared at him with her mouth open.

"You knew?" said Haine at once

"All along yes," said Rufus with a glum expression on his face, "I sensed that something like this was about to happen sooner or later… But I couldn't confirm at first, so I did not take any action… However for the moment I am observing for Amber for any leads to Sousuke Hiou, that man is extremely cunning and not easy to tail… Amber is the best chance we've got… I'm sorry Haine," and he looked apologetic indeed as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "But for now you have to continue to be marked as a traitor for us to nab Sousuke Hiou once and for all…"

"I understand," said Haine quietly, "You must be in a difficult position too... But there's something that I can't accept though," and Rufus suddenly looked at her in confusion. "What…" but before he had finished his sentence, the next thing Haine knew, she could barely hold in her voice and shouted straight at Rufus, "Hazuki Kamiya! That's what!" and Haine had an expression of resentment on her face.

"Unlike now you weren't placed in such a difficult position back then were you Rufus Robinson! Choosing between forsaking Hazuki forever to get on with your life and taking care of both hers and your child, the answer is obvious isn't it! No one in the right mind would ever consider abandoning their children, no matter what!" and a few tears of anger had trickled down Haine's face.

"What are you saying?" Rufus continued to ask, his face obviously shocked. "She had a child? Who?" Haine looked outraged.

"Are you still feigning ignorance?" she said in a slightly mocking tone, "Or are you just trying to push away your responsibility? You slept with her and bore a daughter didn't you? But you chose to abandon her when she was still pregnant and left her all alone to bear the responsibility of the child… How could you…" and at this point, many drops of tears were trickling down Haine's face now but she did not care and continued to stare at Rufus for an answer.

"She had my child?" questioned Rufus, trying to sound collected but failing terribly. "Who is she?"

After staring at Rufus for a few seconds or so, Haine wiped her face forcefully and dried her tears, saying very quietly, "Hazuki is my mother… I am hers and your child…"

"Why…" said Rufus, more to himself than Haine, "Why didn't she tell me…" then suddenly realizing that Haine was still looking at him with a saddened expression on her face, Rufus abruptly pulled her in for a hug, surprising Haine slightly.

"I'm sorry," said Rufus, "I never knew… I honestly didn't know… if I had known I would never have left her and abandoned you in the process… I'm sorry…" Despite still feeling angry and indignant, Haine however found it difficult to continue shouting at him; it was the first time she had felt the embrace of a family member ever since Kyousuke and Juuri had died. She had been craving for the warmth of it all this while…

After a brief moment of silence, Rufus had finally let go of Haine and asked her intently, "Do you know where Hazuki is now?" and Haine shook her head and replied, "I asked Noctis to find her for me… That was the condition I had for joining his team but he hasn't informed anything about it yet so I guess they haven't found her…"

"Knowing Hazuki I am guessing that she has probably settled down in a peaceful country," said Rufus, "She is the kind of person who craves for nothing but a simple and modest life…"

"I see," said Haine while she continued to look down at the floor, feeling slightly embarrassed. Then just when both of them had heard footsteps approaching the room, Rufus placed a hand on her head, saying, "I wish you all the best in finding Hazuki…" and he returned back to his seat while others had entered the room and returned from the short intermission. Sebastian was the first to enter and staring at Haine uncaringly for a second or so, he sat back beside Rufus.

"Let's continue," said Noctis when everyone had finally assembled back into their seats. Zachary stared at Noctis for a brief moment and then stared at Haine, clearly wondering what had happened during the time Rufus and Haine were in the room alone. However the moment someone had started talking, Zachary's attention became 100% focused on the meeting itself and the two did not look at each other in the eye throughout the second half of the meeting. After another hour or so, it had finally ended. As everyone stood up and Zachary walked past Haine, he had undoubtedly said, "I'll avenge Sarah no matter even if Rufus or anyone stops me the next time…" before exiting the room.

"Let's go, everyone else has left…" said Marco, looking around the room as the three of them proceeded to leave the hotel as well.

Walking quietly to the field, Haine saw that the plane had arrived earlier than expected. One of the pilots had alighted from the plane and said, "We received the message from Mr Rowley that the meeting was ending," and the three proceeded to board the plane back to Zaieno.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" asked Marco as he looked over at Haine whom was currently staring blankly out of the window.

"She'll be," replied Noctis whom had been observing Haine closely ever since they had boarded the plane.

After a few hours of stillness, Haine had alighted from the plane first and walked down the stairs to the castle without saying anything.

"You head back first," said Noctis, "I'll watch over her…" and as he said so, he headed down the same direction as Haine while Marco went the other way.

After walking downstairs continuously, Haine finally stopped at the basement where the aquarium was located.

"I guess I always come down here by instinct whenever I'm feeling down," thought Haine to herself and she proceeded to admire the fishes. As she did so, she placed her hand over the spot where Zachary had slapped her from earlier on and said sadly to herself, "Just when I wanted to see him so badly and ask him how he's doing… I guess he really does hate me now eh…"

"He just doesn't comprehend the true situation here," said Noctis and Haine turned over at once. He was coming down the stairs as well.

"I finally understand why you come down here to take a breather whenever you have the time to," said Haine as she looked up at the ceiling of the basement which had many fish holograms projected on it, "It really does make one feel slightly better…"

Walking towards Haine, he placed a hand on her head and said slowly, "You know… At times like these it's ok to cry…" But Haine did not move and replied glumly, "It's not as though I hadn't expected him to react the way he did…Zachary I mean… But to really experience the real thing it does hurt way more than I had expected… My heart really ached when he hit me… I…" and before she knew, she felt tears trickling down her face and fell forward against Noctis's chest, all the while sobbing her heart out. "I'm really pathetic am I?" she said with her voice shaking, "Acting all cool throughout the whole conference and yet now I'm just so weak… I am even disgusted by myself…"

Keeping his hand on her head, he said quietly, "Isn't it enough? Holding everything in all these while… You were trying so hard to keep it all in throughout the entire meeting… At times like this you should just let it all out and get on with tomorrow… That's how one gets stronger day by day…"

"I'm sorry…" said Haine as she continued to cry on Noctis, "But let me stay like this just for a little while longer…"

Sighing slightly, Noctis remained still while staring straight ahead at the fishes in the tank, while the two continued to stand there for the rest of the night in the underground basement aquarium…


	38. Resolve on one's part

Chapter 38

"How was the meeting?"

Rufus was sitting in his office chair, staring out of the window and thinking of what had happened earlier on during the meeting. Upon hearing the voice however, he turned around immediately and saw Vincent.

"The discussion about Sousuke Hiou went well… But…" and Rufus paused for a moment, wondering whether he should reveal other details at the moment.

"But what?" questioned Vincent as he proceeded to talk a seat on one of the sofa chairs. "It was just a simple conference wasn't it?"

"Haine was there as well," replied Rufus in a slightly tired voice, which made Vincent look up immediately in surprise.

"Did you ask her about what had happened back then? Did she really…" but before Vincent could continued, Rufus interrupted, "It's just as I expected, Amber was the one who was collaborating with Sosuke Hiou all along. But it's not so much of that I am concerned with at the moment," and as Rufus said so, he took a sip from his cup of tea, "Haine is Hazuki's daughter apparently, she told me during the intermission…" Contrary to Rufus's expectations however, Vincent remain unfazed.

"I always thought she looked like that woman," said Vincent in response to Rufus's questioning look. "After all it's been many years since you had lost contact with that woman, it's not entirely unpredictable that she would go and have a kid with someone else out there…"

"The thing is," said Rufus, who was still hesitating slightly to reveal the truth, "Haine is Hazuki and my child… In other words, she is yours and Sebastian's sister…" And at that, Vincent choked slightly in his cup of tea.

"What?" asked Vincent at once, his current expression in contrast to his usual apathetic and composed self, "You got to be kidding?"

Rufus shook his head, and after a few seconds or so, he continued, "The one thing I am more confused about though is why Hazuki refused to tell me all these years… I would definitely have taken responsibility if she had informed me about our child…"

"She did inform you," a voice called out from behind which made Vincent and Rufus turn around in slight astonishment.

"What do you mean Sebastian?" asked Vincent as the 2 brothers looked at each other. Sebastian had an extremely cold and unfeeling look on his face.

"Back then, when our mother was still lying sick on bed," and as he said so, Sebastian's eyes drifted over to Rufus briefly, "Mr Watson delivered a letter addressed to you by that woman…"

"I don't remember receiving it," replied Rufus, who continued to look at his son with an inquiring look on his face.

"I burned it," replied Sebastian with a monotonous voice, "After I had read its contents…" Without warning however, Rufus stood up from his chair and grabbed Sebastian by the collar, pushing him roughly against the wall. He looked enraged.

"You knew from the very beginning about Hazuki's pregnancy and kept silent about it all along?" said Rufus angrily, to which Sebastian simply nodded and replied nonchalently, "So what if I did? A woman like that can just rot in a faraway place on her own… Or did you forget that it was all because of her and your unfaithfulness which caused my mother's early death in the first place?"

Before Rufus could respond however, Vincent had come forth and placed a hand on Rufus and said, "Forgive Sebastian, both of us were still children back then… Even I can somewhat understand his feelings… If I had been the one who had received the letter I may have done the same thing as well…" and with that, Rufus finally released Sebastian.

After a minute of silence, just when Sebastian proceeded to walk away, Rufus suddenly called out, "Did you know about Haine from the beginning then?" Stopping abruptly in his footsteps, Sebastian turned around and stared at Rufus intently for a moment or so before replying, "Not from the beginning, but from Amber, right after Haine had left the mansion…"

"Amber knew?" asked Vincent in bewilderment. "How did she…"

"From Sousuke Hiou," answered Sebastian as he looked around at Vincent, "She tried to convince me to go over to her side to exact revenge for our mother…"

"What was your answer then?" asked Rufus, having finally regained his composure and looked at Sebastian sternly.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Sebastian quietly as he proceeded towards the door, "Mother would never forgive me if I actually did something to hurt you… and besides, I hate being made used of..." and with that, he turned around a corner and disappeared.

"Even till now," and Vincent turned around immediately at Rufus and to his utmost astonishment, a tear drop was trickling down Rufus's face, "I am still a failure at being a father and a husband… What have I been doing honestly, these past few years…"

"Rufus…" said Vincent quietly as he continued to stare at his father in shock.

"Do me a favour please, Vincent…" said Rufus as he struggled to compose himself, "Track down Hazuki immediately… The one who has suffered the most till now is Haine… It is only fair that she gets to meet her real mother…"

"I understand," replied Vincent and he left the room at once.

Lifting up Elena's photo from his desk, he proceeded to caress it gently before finally putting it down and saying softly, "Fate really has a hand in playing with people doesn't it Elena… Just what are we anyway…" and he proceeded to stare out of the window at the starry sky and onto the biggest star which shone the brightest, God's eye.

"Hey Sebastian! Sebastian!" called out Vincent as he went after his brother whom was walking hurriedly down the corridor. After a minute or so, Sebastian finally slowed down and turned backwards and faced Vincent.

"What is it?" asked Sebastian.

"Who else have you told about Amber?" said Vincent.

"I haven't told Zachary if that's what you are trying to ask," replied Sebastian, "Partly not to jeopardize Rufus's plans and also, it would be best for him to remain hidden from the truth about his sister's death for now… What's with that look?"

"Nothing," said Vincent whom was now trying to rearrange his features from that of a surprised look to a more of his usual stern and expressionless one. "It's just that you have truly changed… In the past you used to be insensitive to everyone's feelings but now, you actually factored in Zachary's feelings…"

"Whatever," replied Sebastian seemingly unconcerned, "But anyways, I am heading out to Canada tonight so we won't be seeing each other in a while… In the meantime though…" and as he said so, he walked towards Vincent and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Take care of Rufus…" And after receiving a nod from Vincent, Sebastian started to head downstairs out of the mansion.

"Now then, time to get back to work," Vincent told himself as he started to head back to his own office, intending to find out the whereabouts of Hazuki Kamiya.


	39. Proposal

Chapter 39

"Calm down Amber," said Zachary as he locked Amber's wrists with both his hands. The room was extremely messy. Apparently Amber had been throwing a tantrum in the room for the past hour.

"How can she still be alive?" said Amber loudly as she struggled in Zachary's grip. "I thought she was dead… I made sure she was dead…" and at that very instant, noticing Zachary's slightly confused look, Amber stopped immediately and said, "I meant I saw her sink to the bottom of the ocean before losing consciousness myself… so how on earth…"

"It just means she has managed to return to shore on her own somehow," said Zachary with an inscrutable tone in his voice.

"Are you glad then?" asked Amber suddenly, who has finally stopped breaking free form Zachary's hold on her. "Are you glad that Haine's still alive, Zachary?"

"What are you saying…" replied Zachary and despite his best efforts to cover the unconcerned tone in his voice, his expression betrayed him; a scene of the meeting when he had slapped Haine earlier on had flashed in his mind.

"You still love her don't you?" asked Amber quietly, who then raised her voice slightly and continued, "Think of what she did to us? Think about what she did to me? Think about what she did to Sarah!"

"I haven't forgotten," said Zachary in a voice which was louder than his usual one, which made Amber fall silent immediately, "I told myself and you many times before… unless I kill that woman with my own hands I wouldn't forgive myself about Sarah's death… Even now that resolve hasn't changed at all…"

"Then prove it," said Amber, whom was now looking at Zachary intensely, "Would you marry me then?"

"Amber…" said Zachary, looking slightly surprised as he finally let go of her hands.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time, Zachary," said Amber softly, "If you really want to show me that Haine is no longer important to you then marry me and forget about your past with her… The next time you see her both of you will be enemies and nothing more…"

And as she said so, she started to push Zachary towards the bed and slowly loosened his neck tie and threw it aside. Then, as Zachary was still absorbed in his thoughts, she proceeded to unbutton his shirt and while placing a hand on his cheek, she kissed the side of his neck which made him shudder slightly. Shifting her lips to the side of his ear, she said gently, "So will you let me become yours? Forever and only yours…" And as she said so, she traced a finger along Zachary's exposed chest, to which after a few seconds or so, Zachary abruptly grabbed onto her hand and pulled her towards him, causing both their lips to contact. As their tongues interlocked, Zachary started to place a hand up her skirt and felt up her thigh. Finally breaking away from the kiss, Zachary said with a tender voice, "Will you agree to marry me then, Amber… and become mine…"

"I do," replied Amber. And the two proceeded to bond with each other, in both mind and body…


	40. My mother

Chapter 40

"Is it really a good idea for the two of you to head out alone?" asked Marco uncertainly as he looked over at Haine and Noctis, whom were currently all packed and ready to set off to their designated location—Singapore.

"It'll be fine with just me alone actually," said Haine, "But Noctis…"

"Rufus requested me to go along with you," answered Noctis whom was currently receiving a message on his cell phone. "Ever since he's worried for you…"

"A father's way of showing concern eh?" said Victor at once, whom was grinning slightly. Upon hearing that, Haine kept silent and started to ponder over those words, feeling somewhat embarrassed yet relieved inside.

"So are you ready to set off yet?" questioned Noctis whom had already taken a step up onto the jet.

"Wait up!" called Haine, but just as she was about to enter the jet, someone from behind had called out her name. Turning around at once, she was surprised to see that it was Maria and Cain.

"My brother has something to say to you," said Maria who smiled at Haine. Slightly taken aback, she faced Cain and stared at him unsurely.

"I…" said Cain hesitantly, seemingly unable to finish his sentence.

"Whatever you want to say Cain would you please do it quick," said Noctis impatiently from the plane. And after a second or so, Cain finally spoke again, except this time, he bowed apologetically towards Haine as well, astounding the people whom were present.

"I'm really sorry for everything that's happened till now..." said Cain, and Haine continued to look at him in surprise. "I shouldn't have treated you the way I did back then so…" but before he could finish, Haine had cut in, "It's ok, really it is..." and she said these words very quickly, sounding slightly guilty at the sight of Cain's apologetic form, "I've long forgotten about things which happened before and it's my fault for not clarifying things with you guys sooner…"

"Yup you heard her!" said Victor loudly, sounding somewhat joyful and while placing a hand over Cain, he pulled him along and continued, "So don't make that kind of face Cain… it ain't you to act that way…" Haine and Maria giggled at once while Noctis and Marco smiled slightly.

"Friends forever?" said Maria innocently as she pulled both Haine and Cain's hands together.

And Haine smiled as the two shook hands.

"So are you ready to head out or not?" asked Noctis, who sounded slightly amused.

"Coming!" and after waving to the rest, Haine climbed on board the plane and it took off and started to set off towards Singapore.

"You sure it's the right location?" questioned Haine doubtfully as she continued to stare out of the window and look down at Zaieno, which was getting smaller and smaller as the plane ascended.

"There's no mistaking it, Hazuki Kamiya is there," answered Noctis, whom was sitting right beside her and staring out of the other window. "Not only has Cain confirmed it but even Rufus has pinpointed the exact same location as well."

"I see," said Haine, trying her best to contain the excitement within her. She was going to meet her biological mother for real soon…

"Feels like a dream somehow," she said suddenly, and Noctis looked over at her, "Everything that has happened till now… It feels so surreal…"

"Aren't you glad?" replied Noctis, "The one whom you've been searching for is going to appear in front of you real soon…"

"I am relieved of course, but somehow…" said Haine, whom sounded indecisive now, "I'm afraid that after I've met her, I would lose sight of everything in life… I mean like what you've just said, I have been searching for her all these while, and lived only to fulfill a promise to someone… Once I've achieved this objective, I don't think I have any reason to live on any longer…"

"Don't be stupid," replied Noctis at once, and as he said so, he placed a hand on Haine's head, "Don't forget that you've officially become a part of my team… If you think you've got nothing more to do in life then you're wrong…"

"What a way to comfort someone…" said Haine sarcastically and in spite of herself, she smiled slightly. "Thank you, Noctis…"

"What's with the formality now," said Noctis in a slightly amused tone, "We are comrades aren't we?"

"You're right…" said Haine, and the moment her thoughts switched back to Hazuki, she questioned, "What other information have you got about my mother? Besides her location…"

"According to both Cain and Rufus, she's changed her name a couple of times although at present she is known to others as Susan Winston Foo. She is presently working as a flourist in Singapore…" replied Noctis as he scanned through his cell phone.

"A flourist… in Singapore…" and at that, Haine immediately thought of what Rufus had told her during their last meeting back at London, "Knowing Hazuki I am guessing that she has probably settled down in a peaceful country… She is the kind of person who craves for nothing but a simple and modest life…"

"Can she see the light as well?" questioned Haine abruptly.

"I have no idea," replied Noctis truthfully, "It wasn't mentioned…"

"I see," said Haine quietly and she continued to stare out of the window, lost in her thoughts. Then unexpectedly, despite the fact that it has been only slightly over an hour when the jet had took off Zaieno, she spotted a small island vaguely coming into view from above. "Hey… I've never really asked you this before but just how fast do your planes go?"

"Are you referring to the plane we sat to London or the current one?" said Noctis casually.

"You mean they are different?" asked Haine.

"The one we sat to London was nothing compared to this, considering that it was just a prototype at 5000 mph…" answered Noctis.

"5000 mph?" said Haine loudly, sounding extremely alarmed now.

"Why the shocked voice?" said Noctis who now turned away from the window and stared at her shocked face, looking somewhat entertained. "I did tell you from the beginning that Zaieno was loaded with technology… An air plane of that speed is already considered below average by standards don't you think…"

"Then just how fast is this plane?" asked Haine again, but before Noctis had answered, she had cut in immediately, "Nevermind… I am not so sure I would like to know now after what you had just said… makes me wonder whether I am still living in the 21st century or not…"

Noctis merely chuckled and said nothing. After about half an hour or so, the plane finally started to descend onto an open field.

"That was fast…" said Noctis as he alighted from the plane.

"Fast is an understatement… do you have any idea how far Zaieno was away from this place," said Haine, sounding amazed and somewhat awed. After the plane had set itself to invisibility mode, it took off once again while the two continued to stand on the open grass area.

"Hazuki Kamiya's house is just within walking distance away from here," said Noctis as he looked over at Haine, whom still seem to be in a daze ever since they landed. When she remained unresponsive however, Noctis proceeded to walk over to her.

"This place really does seem to be peaceful doesn't it…" she said softly and Noctis stopped abruptly in his footsteps. "Is it really a good idea to see her now… And disturb her quiet life here…"

"It's not so much of whether it's a good idea or not," answered Noctis simply, "You have a right to know everything from her… about your parentage, about everything… You've promised someone haven't you, that you will definitely find her and meet her someday… So what are you hesitating about now?"

Closing her eyes slowly and breathing in the air around her, she thought of Rufus, Vincent and Sebastian… then, a scene of Amber telling her repeatedly over and over about how her mother had abandoned her due to resentment towards Rufus flashed in her mind once more… "That's right," she thought silently to herself, "I came here for the sake of clarifying things… From the beginning I had always thought that I was doing it merely to fulfill the promise to Kyousuke, but that's not it… I came here for myself, because I want to find out everything about myself…"

About a few seconds had passed by and opening her eyes slowly, Haine finally replied in a firm and determined voice, "Let's go, Noctis… To find my mother…" And she started to walk towards her right with an extremely straight expression on her face.

"You're heading towards the wrong direction," called out Noctis whom was now struggling not to burst out laughing at the sight of Haine, who stopped immediately and turned around to look at Noctis with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"You are telling me that when I've just walked about 10 steps away from you?" demanded Haine, whom felt even more irritated at Noctis's amused expression.

"Well after you finally gathered your resolve it will be pretty bad to stop you from walking wouldn't it," said Noctis in a somewhat sardonic tone. "But anyways jokes aside," and Noctis went forward to grab hold of Haine's hand, "It's this way… Don't let go unless you want to get lost…"

"Hey let go," said Haine at once, who was still flushing slightly from embarrassment, "I can walk on my own!"

And while still holding onto Haine's hand, Noctis started to walk towards a greenhouse from the distance.

"I thought we were supposed to be heading towards her house?" inquired Haine.

"And so we are," said Noctis while he continued to pull her along, "She lives in her workplace…"

"Oh," said Haine, finally realizing what he meant. After a few minutes of walking when both of them had finally arrived at the doorstep of the greenhouse, they stopped and stared through the glass. There was virtually no one there.

"She could be out at the moment," said Noctis as he noticed Haine's slightly uncertain and disappointed look on her face. "For now why not we just…" but before he could finish, sensing someone behind them, he turned around immediately.

"Here to buy flowers?" asked the woman politely in a white dress. She looked barely 27 years old and had pale white skin.

"Hazuki Kamiya I presume?" said Noctis as he looked towards her. Although contrary to all expectations, she did not deny it but instead continued to stand there unfazed. However compared to her initial smiling face, she now had a somewhat hardened expression.

"If it's about buying flowers I would gladly appreciate your visit… But if it were something else, then I suggest you leave right now," she said curtly and walking past Noctis and Haine, she was just about to unlock the glass door when Haine said in a quiet yet audible voice, "Mother…"

Stopping abruptly, the woman, while still placing a hand on the door handle, proceeded to turn around slowly and stared transfixed at Haine, as though noticing for the first time that someone else besides Noctis had been standing there all these while.

"What did you just call me?" she questioned, sounding disbelieved. She was sure she had just heard wrongly…

"Mother," said Haine again, and she continued to walk towards the woman, who continued to stand at the same spot and observing Haine's face closed up for the first time, she looked as though she had just discovered something new.

"Haine…" she said gently with a tender expression as she placed a hand on Haine's cheek, "It's really you isn't it… But how…" But before she could continue, Haine had leaned forward and hugged Hazuki tightly. Then after a brief moment or so, Haine let go of her and said with an awkward tone, "I just wanted to make sure that this isn't a dream…" As the two of them continued to survey each other for a few moments or so, Noctis had abruptly interrupted, "Hey I don't mean to break it to you two but it would be best if we go in first… I've got some things to talk to you about as well, Hazuki Kamiya…"

Nodding briefly, Hazuki proceeded to open the glass door and the three headed inside the cabin house next to several stacks of flowering plants. It was a simple house, with basic wooden furniture and with a scent of fresh flowers to it. When the three of them had settled down at the dining table, Hazuki proceeded to place 3 cups of tea on the table.

"Thanks," said Noctis as he took the cup into his hand.

As Haine took a sip from her own cup of tea, she looked up at Hazuki whom was currently observing her intently. Then, when nobody said anything, Hazuki spoke, "Your gaze really reminds me a lot of him… Rufus I mean… It's unexpected that you'll come and find me though it should have been me doing the searching instead… Do Juuri and Kyousuke know that you are here?" And at that, Haine immediately made a stiff expression on her face.

"Mother," said Haine slowly, "I have something to tell you… Juuri and Kyousuke… they were murdered along with the whole village…" Looking clearly astounded, Hazuki placed both hands to her mouth and gasped in horror.

"How did it happen?" questioned Hazuki at once. And looking over at Noctis, whom made a nod towards her, Haine went on to describe all the events that had happened to her for the past few years right after she had left the village, inclusive of the fact that she could see the light, and about how she had come to meet Rufus in London as well as recent events about how she was framed for betraying the mansion. By the time she had finished, Hazuki was looking both stunned and surprised.

"I see," said Hazuki, "You can see the light too… I guess that's to be expected, since you are mine and Rufus's child…"

"You can see the light too?" asked Haine at once; she had that question on her mind ever since she first arrived in the house.

"Yes, I can heal physical wounds of others," admitted Hazuki, who proceeded to stare intensely at her right hand. "It was many years ago… Before you were born when I had first met Rufus in Hokkaidō… Back then I had found him covered in blood and unconscious on the shores of Tokoro… Naturally the first thing I did was to heal his wounds and bring him back to life from the near death state he was in. When he had regained consciousness I had initially thought that he would ostracize me for my uncanny ability to heal but instead he revealed his ability to communicate with machines as well… Day by day he came back to the same place to look for me and overtime, before we know it, we had fallen in love with each other…" and at that, Hazuki sighed at once. "Though I knew that he was a married man and I could never truly be together with him, I still held onto that glimmer of hope and that's when I discovered that I was pregnant with you, Haine…" and she smiled sadly while Haine continued to listen intently to Hazuki's every word. "I tried to inform him about your existence though, but I waited and waited… There was no reply at all…"

"Sebastian burned the letter you sent him before he could even receive it," answered Noctis, who had been keeping quiet all these while out of courtesy. Haine turned around at him in surprise. "That was one thing Rufus had wanted me to inform you about… as well as an apology that he owed you from long before…" Hazuki continued to remain silent and stared at her reflection in her untouched cup of tea, apparently lost in her own thoughts.

"So did you abandon me because you resented Rufus all these while?" asked Haine abruptly, breaking the silence. Hazuki looked up at once and stared at Haine in slight astonishment. "That's why you left me in the village at Kyushu, with Juuri and Kyousuke… Because seeing me just causes you more pain doesn't it…" But before she could continue further, Hazuki had placed her arms around Haine and said soothingly, "Silly child… Of course I'll never do that… I thought you understood my intentions from the very beginning…" and noticing Haine's confused look, Hazuki continued, "I left you with Kyousuke and Juuri because I wanted you to live happy life with a complete family free from troubles and complications on my side… It was extremely difficult for me to make that decision… But if I had known that things will end up the way it is now I would never have left you at that village and made you go through so much…"

"Mother…" and Haine felt her eyes sting, and several tear drops proceeded to fall out of her eyes and she hugged Hazuki very tightly, feeling the comforting warmth and tender love that no other but a mother could offer…

For the rest of their time there, Hazuki recounted her life for the past several years, about how she had changed her name from one alias to another in hope of living a peaceful and carefree life.

"Along with the passage of time I was left all alone, away from any connections I had with my family and relatives, and away from any of my friends who had lived to an old ripe age surrounded by their children and grandchildren… There were times when I felt as though I could no longer go on living in the current solitary world, but when I thought of you," and she looked up at Haine with a gentle expression on her face, "my heart felt extremely relieved at the fact that in another far corner of the world, you were living a carefree and peaceful life with Juuri and Kyousuke…"

"Can I ask you something then?" said Noctis all of a sudden; he had been listening in all these while. Both Hazuki and Haine turned over to look at him. "Have you ever heard of a man called Hiou Sousuke? He was the man who had murdered Haine's village back in Kyushu… Rufus mentioned that you had certain connections with that man in the past…"

"Noctis… What are you…" but before Haine could continue Hazuki had placed a hand on Haine's shoulder and replied with an impassive voice, "Yes, I know of him…" and Haine looked extremely surprised. "I was the one who had offered him the starting ingredients for his drugs… But that was an extremely long time ago, right after Haine had been born… Back then in a desperate attempt to support myself that was the best solution I had… But of course when I had discovered his plans to distribute those lethal drugs to the rest of the world's population I refused to work with him any longer though I do admit that a certain amount of damage has already been done… " and at this point, Hazuki looked awfully guilty, as though a child begging for forgiveness. Noctis continued to seem expressionless.

"Do you resent me, Haine?" said Hazuki and Haine looked up at once, not sure of how to react to her mother's confession of her crimes. "I never knew that he would be that kind of person… and least expected that he would be the one to kill Juuri and Kyousuke… if I had known I would never have worked with him…"

However, before Haine could open her mouth and speak, Noctis had spoken first, "What's done has already been done… If you are really as sorry as you had just said you were," and at that, Haine turned over at him and said in a slightly indignant voice, "Noctis!", but despite so he ignored her and went on, "The least you can do now is to give us whatever information you have on that man and his starter drugs… At present there are still many out there who are suffering under his influence and trying their best to tackle him as well…"

Despite looking a bit astounded at first, Hazuki quickly made a firm expression and replied, "I understand, in the shortest amount of time possible, I will give you a detailed background of that man and his previous records."

"I'll thank you in advance then," answered Noctis who smiled slightly and bowed at Hazuki, to which Hazuki responded with a smile as well.

Before they know it, when night has fallen, it was finally time for both Haine and Noctis to leave the place. Haine felt extremely hesitant to leave.

"When the time comes we'll definitely meet again," said Hazuki as she looked at Haine, "And promise me that you'll take care of yourself."

Haine just nodded silently in response and continued to look longingly at Hazuki.

Hazuki smiled and proceeded to look over at Noctis and asked politely, "You are called Noctis Clayworth?"

"Just call me Noctis," he replied.

"Please, watch over Haine…" said Hazuki worriedly.

"Rest assured I always look out for my comrades… And besides, Rufus had specifically requested me to do the same as well," answered Noctis pleasantly, "If it's any request from Rufus I would definitely do it to the best of my abilities… he is like a father to me after all…"

"I see," said Hazuki, and then with a somewhat sad smile on her face, she continued, "The next time you see Rufus, please tell him this… I never blamed him even once for choosing his wife back then… so please, tell him to not blame himself any further and set himself free…"

"I understand," said Noctis, "I'll convey your message to him."

"The plane is here," said Haine abruptly and they turned over; sure enough, it had landed just a few seconds ago and had just turned its invisibility mode off.

"Take care of yourself," said Hazuki as Noctis and Haine proceeded to board the jet. Giving one last smile over at her mother, the jet sealed off its entrance and lifted off from the ground, finally taking off and heading straight back to Zaieno.

"Did you follow me here to meet my mother just to ask her for details on Hiou Sousuke?" questioned Haine who sounded somewhat annoyed.

"That's part of the reason," replied Noctis, seemingly uncaring of the hint of annoyance in Haine's tone.

"And here I thought you were just being nice by accompanying me to see her, you actually did it for your own benefits…" said Haine.

"Not exactly, even if she had no connection to Hiou Sousuke I would have come along anyway," answered Noctis whom was staring out of the plane window as usual. And at that, Haine immediately looked up at him in surprise. "Perhaps he isn't as materialistic as I thought he was…" she thought to herself and felt slightly glad.

"Rufus had hoped for me to protect you from any possible enemies along the way in any case," added Noctis, "If it's anything he asks for then I'll definitely do it…"

"So it's all because of what Rufus had said that you came along with me?" asked Haine in a somewhat demanding and slightly frustrated voice. "In other words I guess ultimately you really just came for the sake of your own benefit and Rufus's after all…"

Looking slightly surprised at Haine's unexpected hostile response, Noctis proceeded to stare at her for the next few minutes while she continued to look over the other direction and stared out of her own window, disregarding the confused look on Noctis.

"And just the other day I was actually thinking that he's a really nice guy when he comforted me after the conference down at the aquarium," thought Haine silently, "So he did it because Rufus had asked for him to take care of me after all… what am I? A three year old kid?"

In the meantime however, Noctis was lost in his own thoughts. "I always knew that girls had mood swings but even this is rather extreme…" and as he thought so, he continued to look at Haine whom was still ignoring him. "I hope Maria doesn't grow up to be like that, if not Cain's going to have a tough life ahead…"

And while the two continued to keep silent throughout the plane ride back to Zaieno, unknown to them however, a wedding invitation had just been received by the castle…


	41. Planning in progress

Chapter 41

"Honestly is this some idea of a sick joke or what…" said Victor as he shook his head.

"More like a form of psychological torture for her," said Marco as he continued to stare at the envelope at hand, "It states that all members of the castle are invited to the wedding dinner in exactly a week's time except for Haine…"

"But still, to hold the wedding in Zaieno itself, that Amber person must really be out of her mind…" said Cain, whom was standing right next to the two in the narrow corridor leading to the jet maintenance room as well. "Holding a wedding right here and refusing to let Haine attend it… I thought her supposed fiancé Zachary would be able to think more rationally though…"

"What are you guys talking about?" asked a voice from behind. The three turned around and saw Haine emerge from the room, followed by Noctis. Apparently they had just arrived back in Zaieno.

"Nothing," said Victor at once, and when Noctis looked slightly doubtful, Cain quickly added, "So how was the meeting with Hazuki Kamiya?"

"It was fine," replied Haine cheerfully, "It went smoothly and according to plans…"

"That's great then," said Marco and as he attempted to straighten his spectacles, Noctis suddenly questioned, "What's that?" while pointing to the envelope in Marco's hands. Before he could hide it however, Noctis had grabbed it and read its contents; his expression was unreadable.

"Is it an important notification of something?" asked Haine as she looked at Noctis, who continued to look unconcerned.

"Just some trivial miscellaneous stuff to touch up on about this country's future economy proposals," answered Noctis casually.

"I see," said Haine, and though not fully understanding what he had just said, she went forward to sneak a peek at the envelope but Noctis had suddenly placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair, surprising Haine slightly.

"It's best for you to take a nap for now," said Noctis as he looked down at her confused look. "It's been a long day…"

And after a few brief seconds of silence or so, Haine finally gave up on seeing the envelope's contents and nodded. Making her way upstairs, she took a last brief glance over at them before completely disappearing out of sight.

"Keep this envelope away for as long as possible," said Noctis and he looked over at Marco, "and if possible, keep it away from her even after the wedding."

"But she'll find out someday," said Cain, "You sure this is the right thing to…"

"She is not ready to handle this shock, at least not at the moment…" said Noctis firmly. Seeing that there was no point in debating about his decision any further, the rest agreed and started to head back to their rooms.

"Things are really messed up now eh?" thought Noctis to himself as he continued to stare down at the envelope. "Not only will Haine, but Zachary Taylor will get hurt as well at this rate…" And while thinking so, he proceeded back to his office, intending to finish up his report due for the in-state conference held tomorrow.

Back in Haine's room, she was currently lying on her bed, thinking of what had just happened just now. "Somehow the expressions on their faces were just a bit off just now… especially Victor…" and as she thought so, she suddenly had a flashback of Victor back at the corridor; he looked somewhat terrified and wary of her. "Oh well," she told herself as she proceeded to grab hold of one of her pillows, feeling that it's best not to exhaust her brain over thinking about that, "In any case I'm happy that I got to meet Mother today…" and she smiled to herself, and while still lost in her thoughts as everything around started to fade into black, she said quietly to herself, "I'm glad that she didn't abandon me out of resentment…" and with that, she fell into a deep dreamless slumber.

Meanwhile in London, it was ten in the morning, in contrast to Zaieno which was currently twelve midnight. Amber was trying on several wedding dresses while Zachary was sitting by the side.

"How do I look?" she asked joyfully as she turned around at Zachary whom looked up straight away. She was dressed in a long Victorian style wedding gown. She looked extremely captivating.

"Not bad," admitted Zachary as he stood up from his seat and walked towards her. As Zachary stopped in his steps and stood directly behind her, Amber had turned around in an instant and kissed Zachary on his cheek.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time…" said Amber softly as she proceeded to caress Zachary's face lightly, tracing along his charming features.

"I'm glad you are happy," said Zachary who held onto Amber's hand and held onto it tightly. "But there's one thing I don't understand Amber… Why did you insist on holding the wedding in Zaieno instead of London?"

"Because," said Amber, smiling to herself slightly, "I want to announce to her that the both are us are going to get married and that she can't do anything about it…"

"Is it necessary?" questioned Zachary, whom was now looking away from Amber and staring blankly at the other wedding dresses hanging from the wardrobe, "If the two of us can just get married and live a peaceful life isn't it enough…"

"Of course I want to live happily ever after with you Zachary," answered Amber eagerly, "But because I love you, I want to tell everyone including that girl that nothing and no one, not even her can destroy our happiness…"

When Zachary remained silent and continued to look away, Amber decided to change the topic and so they both went back for lunch instead. After they had eaten however, Zachary abruptly suggested, "Can we visit Sarah's grave, Amber?"

While still sipping onto her cup of orange juice, Amber accidentally choked onto it and coughed. "What for?" she said at once and felt instantly tenser on the inside. "You just visited her grave yesterday didn't you?"

"Yes, but just before we set off for Zaieno tonight and get all preparations ready, I feel that seeing her grave right before our wedding would be appropriate," replied Zachary plainly.

"If you say so," said Amber and despite herself, she forced a smile at Zachary.

After a 25 minutes' walk or so, when they've finally reached the cemetery, Amber was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Switching her gaze from the floor to Sarah's grave, Amber instinctively took a step backwards and looked away quickly towards Zachary, whom was now placing fresh flowers right in front of her tomb.

"I never meant for you to die Sarah… so don't begrudge me…" thought Amber silently as she continued to stand behind Zachary, unwilling to get any closer to Sarah's grave. "That's right, my target was only Haine from the very beginning... If you had just been a good girl and took the sleeping draught in the soup from the start then this wouldn't have happened... this is entirely your fault… your fault... your fault…"

"Amber?" asked Zachary suddenly, whom was looking over at Amber now who seemed to be in a daze. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," replied Amber hastily. She looked extremely pallid. "Can we just get out of here real quick… I feel nauseous…"

Feeling concerned about Amber, Zachary took one last glimpse of Sarah's grave before heading back to the mansion with her. When they returned however, Vincent started to walk towards them at the entrance and said, "Rufus wants me to tell the both of you that preparations have been made at Zaieno for the both of you."

"That'll do," replied Zachary who then walked away with Amber hand in hand down the path of the garden.

Still continuing to stare at them, Vincent thought to himself, "Will you really allow this to happen, Rufus… when Zachary discovers the truth about everything won't it hurt even more than now… Or are you planning to disregard his feelings just for the sake of capturing Sousuke Hiou…" and at that, he immediately thought of the long conversation he had with Rufus an hour or go at the office, with Rufus saying, "Unfortunately for now there's too much at stake to stop our plans… if everything about Amber were to be revealed now then chances of ever capturing Sousuke Hiou will be extremely slim… At times like these difficult choices have to be made Vincent, please try to understand…"

"I guess we'll just leave it to fate then to decide," and as Vincent said so, he started to head back to his office, preparing the guest list of the upcoming grand wedding in Zaieno.


	42. Disastrous wedding

Chapter 42

Everyone in the castle has been acting strangely around her these days. Just yesterday, when Haine attempted to question Victor about the progress of tracking down the whereabouts of Sousuke Hiou, he shrugged her off by claiming that he had work to do and before she knew it he had scrambled out of sight. On the other hand, Marco and Cain have been acting slightly odd lately as well. Both of them seemed to be somewhat distant from her and avoided her as much as possible at every corridor. After trying several times to strike a conversation with them but to no avail, Haine finally decided to give up and went to stroll on the streets alone.

"It's really exactly the same as Tokyo here," thought Haine as shed looked around the streets and it instantly made her think back to her life back in Japan, of the day of the festival and many other events which she had experienced up to the point when her life had turned upside down following the murder of her village. "I guess everything has really changed from back then… in a blink of an eye I'm already living in a completely world from before… Come to think of it I can't even figure out what was the real cause of everything that's happened till now… was it really just because I was destined to be able to see the light… or was it merely because of the existence of Hiou Sousuke…" and the more she thought, the more confused she became. Realising that there was no end to debating with herself, she tried to think of something else to distract herself with when suddenly, she spotted a familiar figure from the far end of the street.

"And I want this, this and that," the little girl in the blue dress said as another woman in her early thirties stood beside her and carried several shopping bags.

"But Ms Ashford," pleaded the woman, "You've already had that dress in your wardrobe…"

"I do?" questioned Maria as she continued to admire the displayed dresses. "Oh well I guess that's it for today then…" and as she turned over, noticing that Haine was at the other end of the street, she ran to her at once.

"What are you doing here?" asked Maria excitedly.

Thinking of before when she was being shunned by her comrades back in the castle, Haine replied with a solemn expression, "Everyone in the castle is acting strange today… Either they ignore me or they avoid me… So I came onto the streets to take my mind off things instead…"

"Oh," said Maria, who looked slightly surprised. "I don't think they are doing it on purpose though… I overheard my brother talking a few days ago… Perhaps they are just busy deciding on the whether to attend the wedding later?"

"Wedding?" asked Haine at once. She sounded slightly taken aback. "Whose wedding?'

"I think it's someone by the name of Amber… They mentioned her name during a conversation yesterday… But I can't really remember the guy's…" but before Maria could finish, Haine had already cut in, "Zachary, that's the name of the guy…"

"I think it is," answered Maria simply. But before she could say anything further, Haine had placed both hands on Maria's shoulders and asked in a slightly urgent tone, almost to the point of being frantic, "Where and when is it held?" and eyeing Maria's confused look, Haine said again, "The wedding I mean…"

"It's starting in about an hour's time… at the church which is located at the next street district," said Maria whom was still looking extremely puzzled by Haine's sudden response.

"What is the church's name?" asked Haine again.

"There's only one church there," replied Maria, and Haine sprinted off at once.

"Where are you going?" Maria called out but Haine just kept running and eventually disappeared around a corner.

"Please…" thought Haine desperately as she continued to run towards the church, "Let me make it in time…" While passing by several shops and houses, she inevitably had a flashback of the day when Sarah and she had their first shopping trip together. She had promised Sarah that as far as possible she will protect and take care of Zachary no matter what happens…

"If Zachary really does end up marrying Amber then I wouldn't be able to fulfill the promise I made to Sarah after all…" and while thinking so, she realized to her revelation that she had no idea where she was heading towards. Glancing around the area, she was just about to ask a passer-by when all of a sudden, she heard a familiar voice getting nearer and nearer. Not wanting to let anyone know that she was there, she hid behind a wall immediately.

"I can't believe those two are getting married," said the voice, "I mean Zachary deserves so much better…"

"Well you can't really blame him though," said another voice, "If it were me, the blow of my sister's death would have hindered with my ability to think rationally as well…"

Upon closer observation, Haine realized that they were Yulia and Gerald. Yulia was dressed in a purple gown while Gerald was wearing a typical western lounge suit.

"In any case," said Gerald, "let's start heading towards the church… it's just a 5 min walk away from here…"

Nodding slightly, Yulia followed Gerald while the two remained oblivious to the fact that Haine was trailing behind them closely. When Gerald had stopped abruptly in his footsteps, Haine had initially thought that he had sensed her presence but to her immense relief, it appeared as though they had arrived at the designated location.

"Let's go in and get over and done with this," said Yulia who seemed not the least bit interested.

Concealing carefully behind the wall, Haine took a glance inside the church and saw that many people from back at the mansion as well as a few other guests had arrived. Noctis was there as well.

"Congratulations Mr Taylor," said Noctis as he extended a hand out to Zachary.

"Thank you," replied Zachary with a slight smile. And after the both had briefly shaken hands with each other, Zachary proceeded to greet the other guests when suddenly, everyone fell silent and turned their gaze to a single direction. Amber has just come out. Dressed in the long, white wedding gown, she looked very pretty indeed.

Walking slowly and steadily towards Zachary, whom looked momentarily mesmerized at the sight of Amber, she stopped right in front of him and while placing a hand tenderly on his left cheek, she said, "You look great today, Zachary…"

"You as well, Amber… You're beautiful…" said Zachary as he took Amber's arm in his own. Before they could proceed to the stage however, a few had gasped loudly and pointed over at the direction of Haine, who had just apparently emerged from behind the wall. All heads turned to look over at her and looking down at herself, Haine suddenly noticed how odd it must have seemed to the rest for arriving at a wedding in a casual white jacket and black shorts and sport shoes.

Before anyone could say anything however, Amber had started walking forward towards Haine, who kept an impassive expression and continued to stare at Amber. A torrent of emotions was going on inside her.

"It's daring of you to actually come find us here," said Amber in a slightly mocking tone, "Despite the fact that I specifically stated in the wedding invitation that you weren't allowed a foot into this church during Zachary and my wedding…" When Haine continued to remain silent, Amber added, "After all the things you had done it's entirely unexpected of you to actually show your face once more in front of so many of us…"

"Stop it Amber," said Haine abruptly, and Amber fell silent immediately at the sight of Haine's firm expression. "Doing this will not make you happy at all…"

"What are you saying?" said Amber, whom was trying her best to keep her composure now. "I am marrying Zachary right at this very moment, not you! I won over you! Ultimately I was the one who was able to attain my happiness not you! So what are you…" But before she could continue, Haine had cut in, "All these will amount to nothing eventually… because you know deep inside who was the one who had betrayed the mansion... who was the one who had caused Sarah's death… and who was the one had caused Zachary the most amount of pain till now… Even if you marry him now, everything will eventually fade away when everyone had found out the truth about things… Just stop now, Amber… and stop hurting anyone else, including yourself…"

Everyone present in the church now was talking among themselves right now, and a few continued to stand transfixed at the scene of the two, wondering what were they saying from a distance. Zachary had a stunned look on his face but otherwise remained standing at the same spot. Noctis on the other hand continued to observe the two intently.

Unexpectedly however, a few seconds had passed and Amber, in a fit of anger had removed her white laced gloves, exposing her venomous nails. Noticing what she was about to do, Haine instinctively conjured up three daggers in her hand and threw one of them towards Ambers ankle. However before it had connected, a wire had been drawn out of nowhere and wrapped around the dagger, causing it to turn towards another direction. Temporarily stunned, Haine looked behind and realized that it was Zachary who had deflected it. He was presently staring at Haine with a hostile look on his face. And at this very instant, taking ful advantage of Haine's vulnerability, Amber had rushed forward and embedded her lethal nails into Haine's left shoulder. Several people were stunned as Haine was pushed roughly against the wall while Amber's nails sank deeper and deeper into her shoulder. Blood was trickling down from Haine's shoulder, staining her white jacket; three vertical bloodstained lines had appeared. Wincing slightly in pain, as Haine attempted to conjure up a scythe despite the pain in her shoulder, a hand was suddenly placed on Amber's wrist, preventing her from making another attack. To everyone's surprise, including Haine, it was Zachary who had apparently proceeded to step forward.

Facing the astounded and slightly outraged look on Amber, Zachary said calmly, "Let go of her, Amber… I'll be the one who'll eventually kill her… And today's our wedding, I don't wish for you to dirty your hands…" Looking somewhat satisfied with Zachary's reply, Amber finally let go, causing Haine to fall backwards while grabbing onto her left shoulder with her right hand.

Turning slowly towards her, Zachary said in a cold voice, "Leave now."

After staring into Zachary's expressionless eyes for a fraction of a second, she got back up on her feet and ignoring the blood which was trickling down her shoulder, she started to turn away from everyone and walk unsteadily towards the exit of the church, all the while leaving a trail of blood behind and trying her best to stop herself from turning back her head to look at the people present; she could clearly imagine the expressions most of them would be making right now. As she walked on and on, finally feeling the effects of excessive blood loss as well as the venom which was spreading by the second, she stopped and fell back weakly against a tree.

"To think that I would actually let my guard down just because Zachary parried my attack… What on earth was I doing anyways," she asked herself and felt her consciousness begin to fade…

And while Haine continued to lay by the tree, back in the church however, as everyone tried to compose themselves, Rufus had an extremely worried expression all these while. As he took a step forward and intended to go after Haine, a hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder. It was Noctis.

"I'll go after her so leave it up to me," said Noctis reassuringly and after receiving a nod from Rufus, he had teleported and vanished in an instant to where Haine was. Noticing that she was still somewhat conscious, Noctis kneeled down next to her at once and carried her off to an abandoned hut nearby, laying her down on an old wooden bed.

"Give it up," said Haine in a barely audible tone. Her shoulder wound had turned slightly purplish and the blood trickling form her wound was no longer red but black instead. "Amber's infamous back in the mansion for her poisonous nails… I am guessing this is pretty much the end of the road for me…"

Paying no attention to her remark, Noctis proceeded to unzip her jacket, exposing her shoulders. Then, removing her bra and placing it on one side, he went on to place his lips on her shoulder, causing Haine to blush and tremble slightly.

"What are you doing?" asked Haine at once, suddenly becoming extremely aware of the fact that the upper half of her body was now exposed.

"Bear with it for a minute," replied Noctis and as he said so, he started to suck out some of Haine's blood from her shoulder wound. It caused Haine to shudder violently and Noctis held onto her body at once to prevent her from moving. "I'm trying to remove some of the poison she's injected into you from earlier on… So keep still… "

Spitting out the poisonous blood, Noctis proceeded to bend forward once again and removed another portion of the venom from her shoulder wound. As he repeated this process for the next few minutes or so, Haine was all the while flushing vividly from embarrassment and ended up shaking even more aggressively than before, to which Noctis responded by holding down her body with even more force. Finally, when he had stopped removing poison from the wound, Haine was already barely conscious from the excessive amount of blood loss.

Removing the neck tie from his shirt, Noctis proceeded to bandage it around her shoulder. While wiping away the blood on his mouth, he looked over at Haine's currently unconscious form and heaved a sigh of relief. Proceeding to place his own jacket over Haine, he sat back down and thought to himself, "She was lucky that the poison hadn't penetrated the other parts of her body yet… if not she may really have been gone by now… But still," and he looked over at the deep wound which Amber had inflicted on her, "From the force of the attack that person really was serious about killing her…"

Remaining seated at her side, Noctis folded his arms while closely observing Haine the whole time to ensure that she was stable. Although initially she seemed to be fine except looking slightly paler than usual, about ten minutes later however he noticed that Haine was starting to pant heavily in a painful voice. Getting back up on his feet at once, he looked over at her form which now seemed to be sweating profusely and fidgeting about.

"She's burning up," thought Noctis as he placed a hand over a forehead. Before he could go and fetch some water however, without warning Haine had grabbed onto Noctis's hand and gripped onto it firmly, refusing to let go while all the while speaking weakly in her delirious state, "It's freezing…" and indeed, she was trembling uncontrollably.  
"Oi, Haine," said Noctis as he looked slightly uneasily at her. Instinctively, he proceeded to place his arms around her and held onto her tightly, in hope of preventing her from feeling any colder. About a few minute had passed before Haine seemed to have finally stopped shaking and fell back asleep with her head on Noctis's shoulder. Feeling somewhat relieved, he continued to hold onto her for the rest of the night for fear that she may start trembling again.

"I hope Cain comes soon," he thought while leaning back against the wall. Halfway while he was trying to search for Haine, he had informed Cain and Marco to arrive in a car. "Though I don't suppose they will be receiving my message anytime soon… it's pretty late now after all…" and while still holding onto Haine, who remained sound asleep on his shoulder, he himself started to feel slightly exhausted due to a lack of sleep for the past few days. Feeling his surroundings drift away gradually, he felt his eyes starting to close slowly and finally, he fell asleep against the wall as well.


	43. A humble Birthday

Chapter 43

It was around daybreak when Haine had finally fully regained back her consciousness. However the moment she did so, she suddenly realized to her immense embarrassment that her bra had been removed and her jacket was torn and unzipped. The only piece of clothing which separated Noctis and herself was the jacket which Noctis had placed around her last night after removing the poison from her wound. Still leaning against him, she noticed that his arms happened to be still around her throughout the entire night. Staring at his sleeping face, Haine could not help but think guiltily to herself, "I wonder if he's actually mad at me for gate crashing the wedding last night… after all he had tried so hard to keep it from me and yet I ignored his efforts and confronted the wedding instead…" And ensuring that he was still fast asleep, she proceeded to place a hand on his face and thought quietly, "How cute…" and as she started to play with his face more, she felt slightly amused at how child like Noctis looked while he was sleeping in contrast to the usual manipulative and cool vibe he gave off during the day. "Not so impressive now are you?" she thought while pinching one side of his cheeks.

"Enough of playing around yet?" a voice asked from behind and Haine turned around in surprise and let go of Noctis's face at once. Apparently, it was Cain who had just arrived. "Though looking at things maybe I should have left the two of you on your own… You guys seem to be enjoying yourself…"

Realising what he meant, Haine flushed in embarrassment and retorted back at once, "It isn't what you think it is! I was just…" but before she could finish her sentence, Noctis, who had apparently just woken up from his brief nap faced Cain and spoke, "Finally came didn't you?" and he grinned slightly.

"Cut me some slack Noctis," answered Cain who sounded somewhat sarcastic. "You messaged me at about three in the morning… And besides, I should have come later and not disturb the both of you eh?"

"What are you…" but before Noctis had finished his sentence, he looked around at Haine, realizing that her chest and shoulders were exposed and that his hands were still around her at this very moment. Letting go of her extremely quickly, Noctis quickly looked away from her and threw Haine his jacket, saying in a slightly awkward voice unlike his own, "I'm sorry… you were trembling a lot last night so this was the best solution I could have come up with… I didn't mean to…" and at that, Haine had cut in straight away, "It's fine… I didn't mind what you did at all and more importantly about the wedding," and she discarded the look of discomfort on her face at once and said, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have acted so impulsively and confronted Zachary and Amber at the wedding…"

"Its fine," replied Noctis who seemed to be slightly comforted at the fact that Haine did not seem to dwell on about last night, "I intended to let you find out at a much later time but so be it… since nothing can be changed at the moment… For now let's head back to the castle and get your wounds better treated… There is still a small amount of the venom which remains in your body…"

Nodding briefly, as Haine struggled to stand on her feet and still feeling weakened from her injury, she was about to lose her balance and fall over when Noctis had instantly stepped forward and supported her with his arm.

"Don't push yourself too hard," said Noctis as he half lifted Haine.

"I'm fine, thanks…" she said as she turned over and looked at Noctis. Unexpectedly, Noctis happened to look over the same instant and the two of them stared directly at each other's faces and into each other's eyes for a second or so. Haine's heart skipped a beat.

"Why are the two of you blushing?" questioned Victor who had just emerged from behind the entrance wall of the hut. Behind him was Marco, who had just arrived as well.

"It's nothing," said Haine as she got back right up on her feet and walked away from Noctis, "And anyways let's get a move on… I can't bear staying in this place any longer…" and still trying hard to hide her embarrassment, she went ahead into the car.

"Are you ok, Noctis?" asked Marco as he walked over towards him.

Nodding slightly, Noctis said while facing away from the others, "I'm fine, just a little tired…" and he went into the car as well without saying anything else.

"What happened?" asked Victor at Cain, "The two of them seem to be acting strangely…"

"Nothing happened at all Victor," replied Cain simply, "Just let them be…" and while still looking confused, Victor proceeded into the car, along with Cain while Marco drove all five of them back to the castle.

Upon reaching the castle, Haine was the first one to come out of the car. At that very same instance, Maria was currently running towards her.

"I'm so glad you're fine, Haine," she said as she looked up at her.

"Maria was really worried about you when you ran away all of a sudden," said Cain, who proceeded to walk towards Maria and patted her on the head.

"Sorry Maria," said Haine as she made a slight apologetic smile at her, "I was in a rush yesterday… But everything's fine now…"

"But what happened to your shoulder?" demanded Maria as she pointed towards it, "You can't be fine if…" but before she could finish, Noctis had interrupted, "Now Maria, let her take a breather and rest for a while… Marco," and Marco looked up at once, "bring Haine to the infirmary…" and as Haine and Marco walked towards the interior of the castle, Haine suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Noctis. Smiling mildly, she said, "Thank you Noctis… about last night…" and proceeding to turn around once more, she walked on with Marco and disappeared behind a wall.

"Mesmerised by her?" said Cain in an entertained voice as he elbowed towards Noctis.

"Don't be stupid," answered Noctis in his once again composed voice. "If you've got that much time you can collate the information which Hazuki Kamiya sent us two days ago… We are going to plan our next course of action and destroy Sousuke Hiou once and for all this time…" and with that, he started to head back towards his office.

"What did you mean just now?" asked Maria who had a confuse look on her face.

"Little kids shouldn't butt into matters like these…" answered Cain and before Maria could open her mouth to protest, Cain had already lifted her up and headed back to his office to carry out his designated tasks.  
"So how is it?" asked Noctis as he entered their work office three hours later. Marco, Victor and Cain were there as well.

"We are making progress with developing counter measures for his drugs… in fact, at present thanks to the information supplied by Haine's mother, we've figured out the core ingredients of the varying drugs that he is distributing… before we know it, countering the effects of the drugs would be of no difficulty and all that's left to completely subdue him is to infiltrate his base…" said Marco.

"Excellent," said Noctis approvingly and as he walked over and lifted a document into his hands, he added, "I'll leave the complete subjugation of the drugs and development of its cure to you Marco… and Cain, I need you to use your ability to track him down… according to the latest information sent over by Rufus he's residing in California… Head out there in a week's time and we'll infiltrate his base at the same time and destroy it completely with the level 5 explosives we have…"

"Leave it to us," replied Cain, and Marco nodded as well.

"One more thing though," said Noctis abruptly, "Sousuke Hiou's other bases… are you sure they are all abandoned and mere decoys?"

"Affirmative," answered Victor, "Rufus has been tracing Amber's every movement for a while now and thanks to her we've been kept aware of Sousuke Hiou's movements as well… it wouldn't be difficult to predict his every movement from here on out…"

"Then it's decided," said Noctis, "In 2 weeks time we'll head out…" And with that, Noctis went ahead and left the room.

"He's still a workaholic as usual," sighed Victor.

"I bet he has even forgotten what day tomorrow is…" said Cain.

"His birthday you mean?" asked Marco and Cain nodded.

"Every year he tends to dismiss it as a waste of time to celebrate his own birthday ever since people who can see the light like us don't age at all… but that's not the only reason though," and Cain suddenly sounded slightly solemn, "Tomorrow's his father's death anniversary as well…"

Both Victor and Marco looked slightly surprised.

"I never knew that his father died on his birthday," said Victor, "For the past few years I've known him he has never told me about that before…"

"Neither has he to me," said Marco.

While the three continued to stay in the room, in the meantime Noctis had headed out towards the backyard of the castle where his father grave was located. Standing in front of it and staring at the tomb monotonously, he thought to himself, "I probably won't come here tomorrow due to bad timing, so I might as well come see you now…" and bending down and placing a hand on his father's tomb, he said, "It's been a while since you died old man… Everything in Zaieno is exactly the same as when you were king back then… though I am honestly getting kind of tired these days… I guess if you were here right now you'll probably ask me to stop slacking off won't you…" and at that, he smiled ruefully to himself. After standing there for about half an hour or so, he started to walk back to his room in hope of a short nap before he starts work again.

Meanwhile in Haine's room, she was still wondering about what had happened at the wedding yesterday.

"I guess Amber and Zachary are officially married now… I'm sorry Sarah… I guess I'll have to break that promise to you after all…" she thought sadly while still lying on her bed. And before she could get further absorbed in her thoughts, someone had knocked on her door. To her slight surprise however, it was Maria.

"What's wrong Maria?" asked Haine as she noticed the sad expression on Maria's face.

"It's nothing much actually," replied Maria who proceeded to enter Haine's room and sat down next to her on the bed. "Just that tomorrow is actually Noctis's birthday," and at that, Haine looked slightly surprised. "But it's his father's death date as well so I don't think he normally celebrates his birthday but I really want to do it for him so I think I am going to need your help, Haine… Will you teach me how to bake a cake?"

Staring at Maria intently for a few seconds or so, Haine said, "Of course Maria," and she smiled at her, causing Maria's face to split into a wide grin. And the two headed towards the maids' kitchen immediately and started work. From the start, the two of them were basically experimenting with different flavours of cakes and as a result, cakes of different shapes, sizes and colours were created and left to one side. While they attempted to bake the actual cake however, the first three had been complete failures and it was not only the forth one did it turn out somewhat acceptable looking, except for the fact that it tasted overly salty. As they tried again, along the way they had lots of fun and at the end of the day, they finally came up with a somewhat normal looking cream cheese cake.

"I'll go call Cain, Victor and Marco to join in as well," said Haine joyfully and sure enough, no more than ten minutes later, the five of them were in the kitchen. They all looked taken aback.

"Tell me this isn't real," said Victor as he looked at the mess Haine and Maria made in the kitchen.

"Why not?" asked Haine cheerfully, "Since it's another hour to midnight, there's still a bit of time before Noctis's birthday… don't you think we should give him a surprise?"

"But we haven't gotten anything yet," replied Marco, who proceeded to pick up a cup cake form the table and smelled it suspiciously.

"That's mango flavoured," said Haine as she looked over at Marco, "And don't worry about getting anything… I don't think he'll really mind anyways… Since whether it's celebrating your birthday with only one other person or a whole group of people as long as the message is conveyed it'll fine won't it…" and Maria nodded eagerly.

When no one proceeded to say anything, Cain had broken the silence and said, "You guys wait here and get prepared… I'll go call Noctis…" And with that, he left the kitchen.

"I sure hope this works out," Cain thought as he walked along the corridor leading to Noctis's room. As he did so, he started to think back on the past few years of Noctis's birthday, whereby he was often found in the office buried in tons of work, as though he could not wait for the day to pass by as soon as possible. When he finally reached his office and was about to knock on the door, the handle turned on its own and the door opened at once. Apparently, Noctis had come out as well. Upon seeing Cain, he asked, "What's up?"

Sounding completely normal and keeping his voice as per usual, Cain said, "Maria is asking me to bring you to her… apparently she has something she wants to show you…"

"If it's anything unimportant can we leave it to…" but before Noctis could finish his sentence, Cain had cut in with a firm voice, "Now," and slightly surprised but remaining silent, Noctis proceeded to follow Cain as he walked on.

"Hey aren't we heading towards the maids' kitchen?" questioned Noctis abruptly as the two continued to walk along. Cain remained silent. In response to this, Noctis stopped walking as well, forcing Cain to turn around and face him. Before Noctis could speak however, Cain asked, "Can I ask you a question, Noctis?" and receiving a nod from him, Cain added, "Do you remember what day it is tomorrow?"

"It's my old man's death anniversary," answered Noctis.

"Anything else?" asked Cain again. And realizing what he meant, Noctis replied in a bored voice, "Oh that…"

"Why do you always avoid it?" asked Cain and Noctis shook his head.

"It's not that I want to evade it or anything," said Noctis, "It's just pointless… for people like us who can see the light… don't you feel the same way too, Cain?"

"Not at all," said Cain simply, which made Noctis somewhat surprised. "Whether one is able to see the light or not, it doesn't change the fact that we are still humans… The day we are born is still unique and unchangeable… so are you so hard on yourself, Noctis? If it's because that day is the exact same day as your father's death anniversary then I'm sure he wouldn't be happy seeing you in this state if he were alive right now…"

"In what state?" said Noctis.

"You know yourself well," answered Cain, "Ever since your father died you've become focused on nothing but the development of Zaieno and dedicated yourself to almost nothing else at all… Isn't it time to set yourself free and make an adjustment to your life, Noctis?"

Noctis pondered over his words for a moment or so and seemed to be deep in his own thoughts.

"Anyways, follow me… Maria's waiting for you…" said Cain and Noctis continued to walk along while still being distracted. Before they know it, they had reached the kitchen door and before Noctis could be further absorbed by his own thoughts, there were the sounds of stringers popping and someone had shouted, "Happy Birthday!"

Clearly not expecting this, Noctis stepped forward into the kitchen and at that very moment, someone had come forward and placed an arm around the back of his neck, putting him in a headlock. Looking at who he was, Noctis realized that it was Victor, whom was grinning widely.

"What's with face, Noctis?" asked Victor as he still refused to let go of him.

"There seem to be way more people here compared to a few minutes ago," said Cain, who looked around at 4 others besides Victor, Marco, Haine and Maria. They were all women who seemed to be either maids or nurses within the castle. One of them who seemed to be in her late sixties had come forward and placed her arms around Noctis, pulling him into a hug.

"Madam Elizabeth?" said Noctis softly as he looked at the woman in surprise.

"I am so glad that you've finally decided to celebrate your birthday ever since your father had left… I've watched you grown up after all… all these years you've simply ignored your birthday… what made you change your mind dear child?" asked the woman kindly, and Noctis continued to stand there unresponsive, apparently still unable to believe his eyes at the sight of everyone in the cream covered kitchen.

Then, as Madam Elizabeth released Noctis, Haine and Maria had come forth with the cake, which had a candle on it.

"Time for the king to make a wish," said Haine as she smiled at him. "Maria spent a lot of time and effort on making the cake, so you should thank her for it," and at that, Maria blushed at once and looked extremely pink.

Stepping forward towards Maria, Noctis bent down and placing a hand on her head, he said with a slight smile, "Thank you Maria…"

"It was nothing actually," said Maria at once as she swayed left and right with her hands behind her back. "Haine was the one who did most of the baking…" and at that, Noctis looked over at Haine whom was still holding onto the cake.

"I've lit the candle, so you can make a wish anytime you want," said Haine. And as he did so, he thought quietly to himself, "I wish everyone will here will remain the same as they always are, and that we will live in each others' hearts forever…" and after blowing the candle, everyone present clapped.

Opening his eyes back slowly, Noctis asked in a half entertained, half annoyed voice, "This is really unexpected…" and everyone laughed.

"Come on Noctis," said Victor, "Just treat as a break from your usual workaholic routine…"

"Yea," said Marco, "No one can work 24 hours a day…"

And for the next hour or so, as everyone remained in the kitchen and ate a slice of the cake, which tasted alright contrary to most expectations, including Maria's, Madam Elizabeth called Haine out of the kitchen and told her, "I'm really glad about what everyone has done for him today…"

"It's nothing really," replied Haine hastily, "and to begin with, it was Maria's idea… by the way, may I know who you are?"

"Oh my apologies," said Madam Elizabeth gently, "I am Elizabeth Wilson, you can just call me Madam Elizabeth like everyone else… I was Noctis's wet nurse…"

"I see," said Haine, and taking the chance to find out more about Noctis, she asked with an interested voice, "How was Noctis like, back when he was young?"

"I've got a photo if you like," and as she said so, she proceeded to take out a picture from her pocket and handed it over to Haine. Upon seeing it, Haine burst out laughing before she could stop herself. The picture had a baby Noctis on it, however instead of being in a shirt and shorts, he was dressed up as a girl and wearing a dress instead.

"It's cute isn't it?" said Madam Elizabeth as she smiled. "You can keep it if you like… I have been collecting many photos of him since back when he was young…"

And thanking her, Haine returned back to the kitchen and realize that almost everything has been tidied and cleared up by the maids.

"Where's Noctis?" asked Haine as she looked around and noticed that he was nowhere to be seen.

"He said he needed to be alone for a while so he left ahead of us," answered Marco. Instinctively though, Haine knew where he had gone to.

"I see," she replied and ran off towards the basement aquarium straight away. Just as expected, Noctis was down there and placing a hand on the glass, he continued to stare at the different types of fish residing in the tank.

"Why did you leave ahead of others?" asked Haine as she came down the stairs. Noctis turned towards her at once.

"It just felt awkward to stay there any longer," answered Noctis as he proceeded to look away from her and stared blankly at the tank again.

"I don't think you should feel that way," said Haine who carried on standing next to Noctis. "I heard from Victor that you hadn't celebrated your birthday for many years now, because you find it pointless…"

"That's what I thought," admitted Noctis, "Since birthdays are meant to commemorate living past another year and growing older, people like us who can see the light and don't age have no need to…" and just when Haine opened her mouth in response to this, Noctis had added, "At least that's what I thought back then…" and she kept quiet again.

"On the way here, I was thinking about what Cain had told me, about living life the way it is, and not bound myself strictly to any one thing… Setting myself free would make my life a much easier one…" said Noctis.

"Well he's right," said Haine, "There's no need to exclude birthdays from your life just because people like us don't age… And that is to say, every year after this one we will celebrate it on 12 midnight itself like what we've done for today... so don't you dare disappear like what you've done all of a sudden…" and before she could say anything else however, Noctis had pulled her towards him and hugged her tightly, causing Haine to blush.

"Thank you, for everything…" said Noctis quietly while Haine remained extremely still. Then, after what had seemed like an eternity of awkwardness, Noctis finally let go of Haine and placed a hand on her head, saying, "I'm going back to the office," and he proceeded upstairs and left while Haine continued to stand unmoved at the same spot, her face still flushing…


	44. Beginning to the end

Chapter 44

"How rare… for you to take the initiative and come and see me…" said a voice which made Amber turned around swiftly in alarm. On a chair at the far end of the room sat Hiou Sousuke, who had his legs crossed and eyes on Amber ever since she had stepped into the room a few seconds ago. Amber continued to stare at him with a cold and annoyed look on her face.

When no one had spoke for the next minute or so, Sousuke asked in a slightly amused tone, "So how's your wedding? Full of surprises wasn't it…" but before he had finished, Amber retorted angrily, "That wretch gate crashed the wedding as you very well know! Which is the exact reason why I'm here today… Get rid of…" but before she could continued, Sousuke had cut in, "If you've got that much time to concern yourself with that girl then I suggest you lend me a hand with something…"

"Like I give a…"

"It concerns your darling Zachary too," replied Sousuke calmly, which made Amber fall silent at once. "About 3 days from now, Rufus will probably send the typical pair, Vincent and Zachary, to raid my base along with his other accomplices. What they don't know however, is which base they are suppose to destroy so there is only a 1/16 probability that they'll hit the right one which I doubt they'll be that lucky in doing so…"

"But isn't it risky?" questioned Amber, who sounded slightly uneasy. "If they really do manage to target the right base then…"

"Life's a gamble," answered Sousuke simply, "And I'm confident they won't hit the right one… I misled them into thinking that my base was at California, when it's just a mere decoy… Those idiots will probably find themselves destroying a mere empty shell, but here's when the fun begins…" and eyeing Amber's curious and wary look, Sousuke said, "Don't be worried I'll be sure not to hurt Zachary… And besides, my main target is Haine… I haven't forgotten you see," and as he said so, he placed his fingers over the ugly deep scar on his face, "Who had done this to me… I'll destroy her there once and for all… It'll be to your advantage as well won't it?"

"True," admitted Amber as she gave a brief nod.

"Update me on any moves Rufus makes these three days," said Sousuke.

"I will," said Amber as she left the room and closed the door quietly behind her and left the budget motel at the far corner of Suffolk.

"Yea make yourself useful Amber," said Sousuke as he smiled cunningly to himself, "It'll be the last time I'm using you… Once those people have failed to destroy my base I'll shift my actual base to somewhere else and go there on my own…" and taking a sip from his cup of wine, he continued to sit by the window and admired the moonlight of the night.


	45. Revelation

Chapter 45

"Is this really ok?" questioned Victor who looked in the front.

"What do you mean?" asked Marco as he gathered up his gear. "It's not the first time we've worked with Rufus before haven't we? Especially since this time it's a grand scale operation and all…"

"It's not so much of Rufus I'm worried about," replied Victor, "But more of Zachary Taylor over there… do you remember what he said last night when they had just arrived at Zaieno?"

"I know what you mean," answered Marco and at that, he sighed slightly. Just last night, when Rufus, Vincent and Zachary had arrived at the castle and planned to move out as a group the next day to California, they had a short and brief meeting with members from Noctis's side, who included Noctis himself, Marco, Victor and Haine. Cain was already on standby in California. During the meeting however, Zachary had blatantly stated that he refused to accept Haine on the same team as him.

"What is everyone thinking?" said Zachary at once who had stood up and pointed straight at Haine, who continued to remain still on her seat. "She had betrayed us once before… it's just as likely for her to do so the second time isn't it?"

"Sit down Zachary," said Rufus as he placed a hand on Zachary's shoulder. "Noctis and I have agreed… We'll each bring members whom we trust to carry out this mission… It's not our choice to bring Haine along or not… It's Noctis's and we should trust his decision…"

Noticing that Rufus was quite firm in his voice, Zachary turned away from Haine and looked over at Noctis, who remained expressionless, "If we end up getting betrayed by this woman then I won't hold back on you…" and after leaving the room, Haine stared at Rufus and questioned at once, "Why did you bring Zachary along?"

"I didn't want to," answered Rufus, "But he insisted on getting revenge for his sister… at least who he thinks he should be getting revenge on… He won't stop at the moment, unless he sees both you and Sousukes Hiou dead…"

And when Haine said nothing and looked down at the table with a solemn expression, Noctis placed a hand on her head and said, "Don't worry so much and focus on the mission tomorrow…" and despite herself, Haine smiled slightly and replied, "You're right… Though I dislike this way of doing things but I'll set aside Zachary's feelings throughout this entire mission…"

Presently, on the jet, Notics and Rufus were sitting right in front, Zachary was sitting behind them, and the third row sat Marco and Victor while Vincent and Haine were at the back.

"Cain's pinpointed the location with his tracking abilities," said Noctis, "So once we've arrived we can start the plan straight away… he'll constantly be on the standby and directing us…"

"That's great," answered Rufus, "So let's review the plan again… The base interior will be checked by Zachary, Vincent and Marco, Victor and I will be the snipers by the side while you and Haine will be on the front attacking any oncoming enemies."

"That's it," said Noctis.

In the meantime, as Zachary stared out of the window deep in his own thoughts, at the back however were Haine and Vincent, who found it slightly awkward to initiate a conversation with each other. After ten minutes had passed and nobody had spoken yet, Vincent abruptly said, "How've you been lately?" which caused Haine to turn over in slight surprise.

"I only found out not so long ago… that you are actually…" but before Vincent could continued, Haine had already cut in, "the daughter of Hazuki Kamiya, the person you resented all along…" and Vincent looked somewhat startled.

"It's ok, if you resent me as well… after all it's all because of my mother that…" but before Haine could finish, Vincent had interrupted, "Is that what you've been actually thinking about all along?" which made Haine look up at once. "I've never viewed you in that way before… When I had first found out that you were my sister, I was actually kind of glad you know… to have another sibling out there…" and unexpectedly, he smiled.

"Vin…cent…" said Haine slowly, who was still unable to believe what she had just heard. Before she could reply however, someone had said, "We're landing," and sure enough, it was a remote area on a cliff, exactly as Cain had described it to be.

After everyone had alighted from the plane and gotten into their positions, Rufus kneeled down onto the rough surface and placed a hand on it, saying, "Hold on, I'm trying to hack the computer system into letting us enter…" and soon enough, an area on the ground had split into two and revealed a flight of stairs leading downwards. As Vincent, Zachary and Marco went downstairs while Noctis and Haine stayed put to guard the entrance. Rufus and Victor went over to where Cain was, around 500 metres away from where the current spot was.

About a few seconds had passed and Haine suddenly spoke, "Vincent and I talked just now…" and Noctis looked over at her. "I actually thought he will definitely hate me… if he found out that I was his sister… but he didn't and I couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved…"

"You think too much," answered Noctis who proceeded to place a hand on her shoulder.

Looking up smiling slightly, Haine said, "I guess I've really been thinking too much these days haven't I… Since we never know what tomorrow brings it does make thinking seem really redundant at times…" and after taking a deep breath, she went on, "There is something I want to ask you, Noctis…"

"What is it?" asked Noctis as he continued to place his hand on her shoulder and looked at her.

"After today I'm not sure if I really have the chance to ask again so it's now or never," and with a determined look on her face, Haine continued, "What am…" however at that very instant, before she could even finish her question, Noctis had pushed her roughly away with the hand on her shoulder, causing her to move away from him at once and almost falling over.

"What are you…" but at that moment, she had looked over and understood immediately; Hiou Sousuke had just arrived and attacked the both of them with roots from a plant behind them.

"Not bad," said Sousuke, sounding impressed as he looked over at Noctis. "A second later and I would have got her…" And at that, Noctis reached out his hand, seemingly reaching for something and a split second later, he pulled his hand back except that now, it was holding onto a large sword, which surprised Haine slightly; she had thought his ability had been only teleportation all these while.

"I heard about you before," said Sousuke, who continued to stare at him. "Your ability is to distort space isn't it? In other words… teleportation and phasing out weapons will easily be within your capacity…"

"You've got that right," said Noctis and as he said so, he swung his weapon towards him with great force, causing Sousuke to jump back at once but nevertheless sustain a deep gash across his shoulder, causing drops of blood to trickle down onto the ground.

"I've got no interest in you," said Sousuke as he placed a hand on his wound and licked the blood of his fingers, "The one I want… is her…" and pointing towards Haine and whipping out a short sword, Sousuke lunged forward at her while simultaneously commanding the plants to attack Noctis. Haine instinctively conjured up a large, black scythe and parried Sousuke's attack. There was a look of outrage on her face.

"Killing Kyousuke and Juuri wasn't enough… You actually dared to use my mother for creating those deadly drugs… You are the worst…" and while saying that, Haine swept her feet forward, causing some sand to enter his eyes and making full use of his vulnerability, Haine slashed right at him, and a gash appeared on his back. Despite the fact that he was now covered in blood, he still seemed to be grinning in amusement.

"You're really strong, Haine," he said as he continued to eye Haine hungrily from head to toe. "I've made you my target ever since you gave me the scar on my face that night at the village… You were the first one who's hurt me so bad… and that's why, I'll make you mine…" And without warning, he rushed forward and took Haine by surprise. As she aimed her scythe at him once more, Sousuke dodged to the left and grabbed her collar. As she struggled, he ended up tearing a portion of her shirt off, exposing her right shoulder.

"You arouse me to no end, Haine…" said Sousuke menacingly as he took a step forward towards her. Abruptly though, Noctis had broken free from those plants and brought down his sword at Sousuke, who turned around just in time and evaded his slash.

"Don't you dare interfere with my fun!" he yelled at Noctis, who remained unresponsive and stared towards him unfeelingly. Annoyed at his lack of response, Sousuke continued, "You really think all of you are that great? This is just a fraud base you fools…"

"We knew about that," replied Noctis simply and at that, Sousuke's face contorted into one of fear and horror and said, "You're lying!"

"At least now that you've just said it yourself, I guess we can rule out the possibility that this is the real base then… do you really think that we have set explosives only in this base? You're wrong…" said Noctis.

"What do you…" and Sousuke's eyes widened in horror, apparently realizing what he meant. "You meant you've set explosives on every single one of my base? Are you mad… Some of them are in the central town area… If you do that then the citizens will be blasted to pieces…"

"We've evacuated them just a few hours ago… But ever since you just said this base in California is a mere decoy then I guess we can rule this place out then and save a couple of bombs we have…" said Noctis who sounded slightly entertained now at the sight of Sousuke's terrified expression.

"Then travelling here to California… it was just to keep up the act?" questioned Sousuke. And when Noctis kept silent and Haine continued to stand transfixed at Sousuke, who seemed as though he was on the brink of insanity, he abruptly shouted, "You useless bitch! Amber!"

"What do you mean 'You useless bitch…Amber'?" said a voice from behind all of a sudden. Haine turned over at once and noticed that Zachary, Vincent and Marco had just emerged from the stairs. Sousuke turned over and looked at Zachary monotonously.

"What do I mean, you asked?" said Sousuke mockingly as he walked towards Zachary, who continued to look wary of him. Sousuke looked as though he had gone completely insane. "I'm saying that your wife, Amber Lockhart, had been the one who had supplied me information about your movements all along you idiot!" and Zachary remained still, seemingly stunned at his words. "What you thought it was that girl over there all along?" Sousuke said loudly as he pointed over at Haine, "It's Amber you fool! Who do you think killed your sister? She did! Who do you think sent the goods to me right after you guys had seemingly retrieved it on that day? She did! And who do you think had betrayed Rufus and all of you guys, without giving a damn about your safeties at all? She did!"

"Stop it!" shouted Haine as she walked right in front of Zachary and faced Sousuke, with her eyes fixed right at him. She looked extremely angry. "Just shut up Hiou Sousuke!"

"Is it true?" asked Zachary quietly from behind her, which made her freeze up at once. She turned around slowly at him and saw that he looked both shocked and lost, as though a child stranded on an island with nowhere else to go. Unable to bear his questioning face any longer, Haine nodded.

Looking around at everyone now, Zachary asked again, "Did all of you know about this from the very beginning? Why didn't any of you tell me?" And looking at everyone as though they were all mad and dangerous, Zachary started to back away and ran downwards the cliff, as though everything was a mere bad dream.

"Zachary!" called out Vincent but he refused to look back. "I'll go after him," and as he said so, Vincent ran down the cliff as well.

While Haine continued to stare at the spot where Zachary had been standing at, she was looking seemingly astounded and anxious. But before she could be absorbed further into her thoughts, without warning, a voice had called out, "Haine!" and turning around immediately, Noctis had ran towards her and while placing a hand around her, a thorn from a cactus had enlarged and impaled Noctis's left shoulder, causing blood to spill out of his wound and onto Haine.

"Noctis!" said Haine as she grabbed onto him and without realizing that she was standing at the end of the cliff, she lost her foot balance and fell over and down towards the ocean at the bottom of the steep cliff with Noctis.

"Noctis! Haine!" yelled out Marco as he looked over the blood soaked pair who continued to fall into the ocean. "Why you…" said Marco as he grabbed Sousuke and punched his face, causing his nose to break and bleed. "You're going to have a miserable time ahead!" and as Marco said so, he took out a taser and knocked Sousuke out. After a minute or so, Rufus, Cain and Victor had come running from their observation spot and towards Marco.

"What happened?" questioned Victor at once at the sight of the unconscious Sousuke. "We were busy fighting off a few of his crooks who were on the way up here so we didn't know what was going on here… Where's the rest?"

"Zachary found out... the truth about Amber… This guy here blurted out everything in his delirious state when he realized that he had just lost everything… so Vincent went after Zachary down the cliff… As for Noctis and Haine… they fell down..." said Marco as he pointed towards the edge of the cliff and everyone looked stunned. As Victor ran towards the edge of the cliff, Rufus pulled him back at once and said, "It's no use even if you go and search for them now… It too dark now, even Cain's observation abilities won't be of much use… There is no choice but to wait till dawn to search for them…"

"But by then…" said Victor, and Cain interrupted, "Believe in the both of them… It will take a lot more than that to kill Noctis…" Realising that there was no room for argument, Victor stayed silent while the remaining people present proceeded to eventually bring Hiou Sousuke into the truck which arrived five minutes later, intending to deliver him to the London police and bring him to justice once and for all…


	46. A night of passion

Chapter 46

"Wake up! Wake up! Noctis!" said Haine as she desperately attempted to revive the unconscious Noctis. His shoulder was currently bleeding profusely. Just a few minutes ago when they had both fallen into the ocean, Haine had brought the both of them over to a cave she spotted from a distance. Gathering some wood nearby and lighting up a fire for some warmth, Haine proceeded to bandage his shoulder with a handkerchief to stop his bleeding but seemed to be of little use at the moment; the handkerchief was drenched from his blood.

"Please… don't make me lose another person I care for again…" and as she said so, a tear started to flow out from her eye dripped onto Noctis's face, causing him to open his eyes slightly and seeing Haine's crying form, he lifted his finger and wiped away the tear on her cheek and said in a somewhat entertained voice, "I'm not dead yet… So stop crying…" which made Haine look over at once.

Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Haine proceeded to look slightly annoyed and said, "Were you just pretending to be unconscious all these while? Do you have any idea how worried I was you…" but before she had finished her sentence, Noctis had abruptly pulled her downwards and hugged her tightly, causing Haine to fall silent at once and keep very still.

"I'm glad you're safe …" he said quietly.

"Idiot…" said Haine as she continued to lean against his chest, "There was no need for you to step in… His target was me from the beginning… it was reckless of you to shield me form his attack… if anything had happened to you I'll…" and at that, Haine suddenly realized what she was about to say and stopped immediately while blushing slightly.

"Hey Haine," said Noctis suddenly, and he released Haine from his grip and they both sat up while Noctis clutched onto his shoulder and winced slightly in pain.

"Don't move about so soon," said Haine at once and she proceeded to tighten the handkerchief around his shoulder.

"Thanks," replied Noctis and staring back at Haine, he asked, "What were you about to say, back on the cliff before Hiou Sousuke had attacked us?"

"That's…" and suddenly remembering what she had wanted to tell him, she flushed slightly and added quietly, "That's not important now…" and noticing Noctis's puzzled look on his face, she continued, "Anyways, for now it's best if we wait for someone to rescue us…"

"Yea," said Noctis as he looked around the surrounding area. It was nothing but deserted plains. "I'll take my hat off that guy, for building a base in such a remote area… I can't exactly teleport us back up the cliff either since I don't know the area well…"

And noticing that the fire was about to get extinguished, Haine got up at once and said, "I'll get more firewood…" and she left the cave, leaving Noctis to lean back against the wall thought quietly to himself as he stared after Haine, "If this were dying then I guess it isn't so bad… Hiou Sousuke has probably been captured by the rest now…"

After twenty minutes or so, Haine had finally returned with some firewood in her hands and looking over at Noctis, she realized that he was fast asleep. Placing the wood at the fire, she sat next to Noctis and observed his sleeping face. Placing one hand on his cheek, she thought silently to herself, "Did you save me, just because I was your comrade, Noctis…" And proceeding to lean towards his other uninjured shoulder, she felt herself gradually losing her alertness and eventually falling asleep as well…

The next morning came and before they knew it, Cain had arrived in a helicopter along with Marco and Victor. The two of them, Noctis, with one hand being supported by Haine's shoulder, had emerged from the cave and boarded the helicopter. Cain was tending to Noctis's wound.

"You're lucky he didn't strike any of your vital organs if not even you wouldn't have survived," said Cain as he wrapped a bandage around his shoulder.

"Guess it isn't my time yet," answered Noctis.

"Rufus had gone back to London to facilitate matters, apparently Hiou Sousuke is in prison and waiting to be trialed at this very moment," said Marco.

"What about Zachary and Vincent? Are they back yet?" questioned Haine at once.

"They are back right now, although I don't know how the situation is on their side, especially with Amber and Zachary," replied Victor who shook his head.

"I see," said Haine quietly and she stared out of the window and wondered how Zachary was going to deal with everything after he had found out the truth about everything.

"Where are we heading?" asked Noctis, whose shoulder was finally securely bandaged.

"We've made reservations at a hotel to stay over in the meantime…ever since it's unexpected that both of you had fallen over the cliff we couldn't take the plane back to Zaieno back in time so our plane will come again during the afternoon the next day," answered Victor.

"I see," said Noctis.

After an hour or so, they had finally arrived at the hotel and apparently, 5 rooms for reserved for them, one for each person. Settling down into each of their individual rooms, they all proceeded to rest for a few hours, seemingly exhausted from the whole mission yesterday. By night however, while Noctis was settling matters and sending information over to Rufus, someone had knocked on his door.

"Come in," he said without taking his eyes off the laptop and as the person entered the room, Noctis stared over at the reflection on the mirror and realized that it was just Haine.

"What are you doing here so late at night?" asked Noctis who sounded slightly surprised.

Walk over to him slowly and closing the door behind, Haine replied, "I was worried about your shoulder so I just wondered if you're ok…"

"It's fine now, if that's what you want to know," said Noctis as he smiled slightly and carried on with his work.

"What are you doing?" asked Haine abruptly as she noticed that he was busy with his computer.

"Just asking about Hiou Sousuke's status in London as well as updating about ours to Rufus… He was really worried about us…" said Noctis and after clicking onto the "SEND" button, he finally leaned back towards his chair and took a sip from his glass of red wine.

"I really don't understand why you guys drink this stuff," said Haine as she looked over at the wine, "I think it's disgusting…" and Noctis chuckled slightly.

And bending forward slightly to look over at his computer screen, without warning a piece of paper had fell out from her pocket and landed directly on Noctis's lap, who noticed it and picked it up straight away. Just as he was about to hand to over to Haine however, he suddenly stared at it and realized that it was a photograph of a baby dressed in a pink dress and upon staring at it intently, he suddenly realized that it was a photo of himself when he was young. Snatching it back almost immediately, Haine said very quickly, "It's just a photo Madam Elizabeth gave me on your birthday… So you won't mind will you…" but at that instant, she knew she was wrong for Noctis had gotten up from his chair at once and chased after her while saying in a slightly awkward tone, "Return that photograph to me right now Haine! Who knows what Cain and the rest will say if they ever get a glimpse of it…" and slightly horrified at that aspect, he proceeded to grab Haine's wrist from behind and attempted to snatch the photo back from her.

"Oh come on!" said Haine as she struggled to break free from his grip. "I promise I won't tell anyone about it, just let me have some fun looking at it…" and as she finally managed to break free, Noctis suddenly made a slight wince in pain and clutched onto his injured shoulder, causing Haine to look over at once and supporting Noctis with her hand, she asked worriedly, "Are you alright?" but to her slightly annoyance, Noctis had ceased the chance to seize the photo and placed it into his own pocket while saying in a mocking tone, "You are way too gullible…"

"Why you…" said Haine and as she tried to grab the photo back, she accidentally fell backwards and as Noctis attempted to hold onto her and help her regain back her balance, he ended up falling on top of her and the both of them landed on the bed itself, their faces an inch away from each other's.

Feeling his breath against her own, Haine flushed slightly and tilting her head sideways, she gathered up her courage and asked quietly, "Hey Noctis… what am I to you…." which made Noctis slightly surprised. "That was the question I had wanted to ask you back then… To you, what exactly am I… Did you save me, just because I was your subordinate… or was it only because I was your comrade so you felt that it was necessary to do so… Have you ever viewed me as more than a mere comrade before… Because the truth is I…" but before she could finish, abruptly, Noctis had brought her face towards his and placed his lips towards her, causing her to flush at once. As his tongue proceeded to enter her mouth, she could taste the red wine from earlier on and tilting her head slightly to enable him to deepen the kiss, she felt his tongue interlocking with hers and blushed even more at the intensity of his kiss. After a few seconds or so when he had finally broken away from her, he stared at Haine intently and said, "Back then, when Hiou Sousuke attacked you… Your safety was of utmost importance to me… Nothing else mattered to me then, whether it was Zaieno or anyone else at the moment… All I had in mind was to protect you from all harm… Is that enough to answer your question now?"

And at that, Haine continued blushing and said softly, "Noctis…" and the two proceeded to close in towards each other's face and kissed again, while Noctis placed a hand over at Haine's collar and unbuttoned it slightly, in the process removing her shirt and throwing it aside. The top half of her body was all exposed now except for her bra which still remained intact. Proceeding to remove his shirt as well, Haine blushed at the sight of Noctis's exposed chest and as he leaned forward towards her, he placed a hand on her breasts beneath her bra and continued to kiss her passionately. Then, as he proceeded to remove her bra as well, he started to lick the side of her neck, causing her to shudder in pleasure and a moan escaped her mouth, causing her to feel slightly embarrassed. Ignoring the look of uneasiness on Haine, Noctis proceeded to kiss all over her neck and the rest of her body as the two continued to make love for the rest of the night…


	47. Final chapter

Chapter 47

It was 6am in the morning when Noctis had woken up from his bed next to Haine. The two of them were still completely undressed. Placing a hand on Haine's sleeping face, Noctis bent over and kissed her lips slightly and proceeded to get dressed and looked over at his laptop, reading his reply from Rufus.

"What did Rufus send over?" a voice suddenly asked from behind Noctis and turning around at once, he realized that Haine had just woken up as well.

"It's nothing much," replied Noctis as he covered his laptop back and switched it off. Sitting back onto the bed and placing a hand around Haine's head, he said, "It's just that Hiou Sousuke has been given the death penalty by the court… his execution will be in a week's time… Death penalties aren't normally given in London but I guess in his case it's exceptional…"

"I see," said Haine quietly and she proceeded to lean towards Noctis as he placed his hands around her body. "I can't believe that all this is finally over… I'm just really relieved…"

"Don't think so much now," said Noctis, "We should be heading downstairs to the lobby soon…"

And nodding slightly, Haine proceeded to get dressed and as she stood up the bed and headed towards the door, she suddenly turned around and said in an embarrassed tone while blushing slightly, "I'm really glad… that I did it with you last night…" and turning around, she twisted the door handle and left the room.

As the five of them had finally gathered down at the lobby, Marco said, "We'll be heading to London now…" and Noctis nodded.

After a few hours when they arrived at Rufus's mansion however, something unexpected had happened. Amber, Zachary, Vincent and Rufus were at the entrance gate. Amber was sobbing heavily.

"Please…" she cried as she kneeled down onto the floor and faced Rufus, "Don't chase me out of the mansion… I'm sorry…"

"Stop it Amber," said Vincent, "We've agreed not to pronounce your crimes to the court but on the condition that you were to leave the mansion and never come back…"

"Please, Zachary," said Amber abruptly as she faced him now, "I…" but before she had finished, Zachary turned over to look at her with contempt on his face.

"On the account that we are officially husband and wife," said Zachary monotonously, "Get out of my sight Amber… before I can't control myself and do anything to hurt you…"

Looking astonished, Amber started to back away from Zachary and as she turned over and saw that Haine was standing right there, who looked slightly surprised at the scene right before her, Amber had without warning ran towards her and pushed her roughly to the wall. With tears of rage trickling down her face, Amber said in a shaking voice, "It's all your fault! You should have died! Many times before! Just what else do you want from me…" and as she proceeded to lift up her hand and attempted to slap Haine, Noctis had held onto Amber's wrist and said, "I suggest you leave this place and start afresh in somewhere else before things get too ugly for you, Amber Lockhart… Making a scene of yourself here won't be of any benefit to you either…" Feeling slightly intimidated by Noctis, Amber proceeded to pick up her bag and ran away from the mansion quickly, not turning back even a single time.

As she finally disappeared out of sight, Zachary started to talk towards Haine, who continued to stand still on the same spot.

"I'm sorry," said Zachary, "For everything… the one who has suffered the most must have been you, Haine…"

"It's ok," said Haine, who smiled back slightly, "I don't want to dwell on the past anymore… More importantly now, what are your plans Zachary?"

"Most probably I'll be going off somewhere really far away and start anew there," answered Zachary.

"You're leaving the mansion?" asked Haine at once.

"This place holds only sad memories for me now," said Zachary as he proceeded to look around the area. "It's better if I leave… So take care of yourself now…" he said as he placed a shoulder on Haine, who looked up at Zachary with a slightly sad expression on her face.

"Take care of her for me," said Zachary as he looked over at Noctis with a smile.

"Don't worry I will," answered Noctis with a smile as well and after saying so, Zachary proceeded to look over at Rufus and Vincent and waved briefly before turning away and leaving as well.

"Take care Zachary!" shouted out Haine as Zachary disappeared around the corner.

"Do you really think it is right of Zachary to leave like this, Rufus?" asked Vincent as he continued to stare at the corner which Zachary had just disappeared from.

"Perhaps it's the best possible solution he could come up with to escape from all this pain," answered Rufus.

And walking over towards Noctis, Rufus said, "Something happened at the last minute…" and noticing Noctis's confused look on his face, he added, "Hiou Sousuke… he won't be receiving the death penalty…"

"What?" burst out Victor at once and to which Marco looked slightly alarmed as well. "Why?"

"Just this morning we've received the news that he has committed suicide within his prison cell by plant strangulation…" answered Rufus. Everyone around looked shocked. "So basically after a few paperwork here and there are settled, this whole incident will have a closure to it… In the meantime you should come into the mansion though… You must still be exhausted from the mission…" and as he said so, the five proceeded into the mansion. Upon entering the mansion however, a few people had screamed and one of them, whom Haine recognized as Yulia, had run forwards and placed her arms around Haine while saying loudly, "I knew you were innocent!"

"Yulia… and you guys…" said Haine as she noticed all her training squad mates from before. Leaving Haine alone with her reunited friends, Noctis proceeded to Rufus's office along with the other three.

"It's been a while, since I've been back at the mansion…" said Haine as she looked around the place. "But it still looks the same as ever doesn't it…" and before she knew it, Yulia had led Haine to the training combat room.

"Still remember this place?" asked Yulia as she grinning widely.

"Of course," said Haine who remembered the first time when she was still a newbie back in the mansion and fought with Yulia at the exact same room she is in now. And without warning, Yulia had aimed a kick at her, to which Haine responded immediately with a block from her elbow.

"Still haven't lost you old touch I see," said Yulia in an amused tone and the two laughed. As they continued to walk along the corridor and revisited the old areas they used to hang out in the mansion, Yulia abruptly asked, "You are aware that Zachary has left the mansion aren't you?"

"Yea, I bumped into him right outside the mansion just now…" answered Haine.

"Haven't you ever considered getting back together with him, now that Amber is gone?" asked Yulia again.

"During the time period when I was labeled as a traitor within the mansion, many things have changed Yulia… Things can never be the same again and we can only move on... Towards Zachary, I feel more of a sibling's love rather than anything else… On the other hand," said Haine as she suddenly thought of Noctis, "I've fallen in love with someone…"

"I see," said Yulia, "I guess all this is really the workings of fate isn't it…"

"Yea," answered Haine and by evening when the two had finally stopped exploring the mansion, Haine said, "Thanks Yulia, for accompanying me around the mansion today…"

"No problem," said Yulia cheerfully. "It must have been refreshing hasn't it, especially when you went back to your old room…"

"Yea," said Haine and at that, she instantly thought of the purple dress she saw in the wardrobe; it was a gift from Sarah back when the two had their first shopping trip together. And as Yulia proceeded back to her own room, Haine called out, "Tell me when you and Gerald decide to go a step further!" and at that, Yulia just brushed her off and left.

Walking towards the garden on the ground floor of the garden, Haine was strolling around the water fountain and admiring the shiny water pearls which reflected the glorious moonlight. Abruptly, a voice said behind her, "Not going to turn in for the night yet?" and looking over, Haine realized that it was Noctis.

"I'm just thinking back to when I was still living back here in the mansion… how long it has been…" answered Haine as she continued to look up. As she narrowed her eyes slowly at the brightest star of all (God's eye), Noctis abruptly leaned forward and kissed her, causing her to blush and as Haine proceeded to close her eyes and deepen their kiss, she suddenly realized that something was placed on her ring finger. Apparently, Noctis had taken off the ring from his finger and placed it on her. Holding her hand up and kissing it slightly, causing Haine to blush even redder, Noctis said quietly, "When we go back to Zaieno, will you marry me, Haine? And let me take care of you?"

"Noctis…" said Haine whom was temporarily taken aback by his sudden proposal.

"I don't have any other ring on me at the moment so I'm using this as a substitute for now, since it's the ring I've inherited from the lineage of Kings in Zaieno… When I get back I'll…" but before Noctis could finish, Haine had placed her arms around him and kissed the side of his face, saying, "Just this is fine…"

"There's no backing out, once you've agreed to be my wife…" said Noctis softly as he took in the scent of her hair and Haine nodded back in return.

As the two continued to stand there in each other's arms under the moonlight, they continued to think of the possible changes they have to face in future, as well as all the things they have been through until now… Nothing else felt real to them, except for the fact that they both belong to each other right at this very moment, and no matter the difficulties they have in the upcoming days, they will always have each other at their sides no matter what…

Hey so this pretty much ends the story for now… many thanks to ppl who have read this story to its very last chapter here and if you feel like asking about any of the characters' future or fates feel free to review and I'll try my best to answer them=) Once again many thanks for people who have read all 47 chapters!!


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